Behind the Veil

I realize...

2012-01-21T12:00:00.000-06:00

I realize that people might classify me as crazy.

Or a word a find myself described as, pretty often:

OVER THE TOP.

This is the kind of person that I am:

I give just about every task in life everything I have.

Andrew From CrossFit asked us today to not only do a WoD, but to do double what the WoD was programed to be.

(For you CrossFitters and others intersted in the specifics-- we had a 5000 meter row [about 3.1 miles] that was programmed, and as I cross 4900m, he walked over and said, "Why don't you go for 10k?" And I'm a CrossFitter, which makes me a bit ridiculous anyway, so 57 minutes later, the rower crossed 10,000m and my body had protested, but you'll never make progress unless you push it, right?)

One WoD is hard (I believe any CrossFitter would tell you that.). One a day is enough, and most people would have laughed at Andrew when he came over and said that comment. I thought about doing that. But there is something inside of me that I can't deny.

I want to be better.

Better than yesterday.

Better than I thought I could be.

Better than my competitors.

(Many of whom I love dearly, unless we are racing. And if you are doing the same thing as me, 90% of the time, we are racing, fyi.)

Muhammad Ali is credited for saying this:

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

This is the quote that is on the wall closest to where our rowing machines are most of the time. And from them, you see this quote. And because I spend quite a bit of time at the gym, I see this quote on a near daily basis.

Quitting in the middle of a WoD is something I have thought about.

But I know myself well enough to tell you this:

once I start a WoD, I won't quit.

It doesn't matter what WoD it is. Some of them are particularly terrible (Karen, anyone?) but once you get started, quitting just isn't an option.

If you have never experienced the feeling of finishing a workout that you told yourself was just TOO hard, I argue that you have never experienced a part of life that is meant to be enjoyed.

The feeling of knowing you finished something that you thought was impossible makes everything in life easier to face.

Because those impossible things somehow seem possible.

It gives me a strength that I am not always sure is actually in there.

Because I've looked at things that look the same (impossible and exhausting) and finished them and felt fabulous after the fact.

The topic of my last blog post is something that, even to me, looks and feels impossible sometimes. But I remember that twenty-three and half years has already passed. Particular days might be hard. Particular moments even, but somehow those things go on.

Those feelings of thinking that I will forever be alone are things I still wrestle with.

But my God didn't promise me all sunny days, but a faithful sovereign God. He wrestled with Jacob. I feel like Jacob sometimes, arguing with God about the fact that I want a husband. I want the things that I think I need, but he constantly reminds me that HE has a plan that I couldn't dream up for myself. He hasn't forgotten my request. I still often remind Him, though.

I think God laughs to Himself when I remind him that I want a husband. I think he chuckles and thinks, "I can promise you kiddo that I have heard your request. And I've got something bigger for you than you ever dreamed."

And that's where I rest in Jesus to know that HE is my hope, my source, and everything I need in this life and eternity to come.

i might lose followers over this post.

2012-01-19T20:44:00.000-06:00

***DiSCLAiMER: this is no doubt THE MOST controversial thing I have ever posted. But its my blog, and if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. These are MY convictions. These are things that I believe, but everyone has to make decisions for themselves. And I am 100% okay with that.***

I wonder this idea: if you are married, would you walk up to a random person (assume married for the illustration) and kiss them?

Would you appreciate if your spouse decided that he or she was going to do that?

Or would you be riding in the car or at the movies and go anything beyond lines that are clearly drawn for friends?

I am pretty confident that most people (especially believers) would tell me without a doubt that they wouldn't do that to their spouse.

So what makes it okay for people who are single to do something that is exactly the same?

I might not know my husband's name, ever held his hand, or know the warmth of his embrace.

But there will come a day that he will be MiNE.

And Scripture has this pretty word it uses when it comes to marriage:

SUBMiT.

And my stance on phyisical contact in relationships is based on it.

Until my husband has a ring on HiS finger, he isn't mine.

I am going to honor the man that will one day become my husband when I have the greatest privilege of my life to marry him.

TODAY.

Not only when I meet him, not only when he is my boyfriend, or my fiance.

But through this season of waiting for him to come, I am going to do my best to honor him and wait for him.

I'm waiting to share moments with him that I can tell my grandchildren about. To be able to look my future kids in the eyes and tell them that the first person I ever loved was their daddy. And the only person that I shared myself with was him.

This is what this equals to, in practical terms:

The things I think might be appropriate before marriage is hugging and holding hands. I'm okay with sitting together on the couch, etc, but the rule of two feet must be on the floor will apply.

Being in the same room, the same car, etc is totally okay. Being together is NECESSARY.

But we don't have to and won't make it physical.

I want to know the man that I marry for what is inside of his head.

His dreams.

His greatest fears.

His thoughts on politics.

His relationship with Jesus.

His family.

His favorite music.

His favorite tv show.

His favorite vacation destination.

His happy place.

His favorite food.

His weird habits.

His favorite color.

His favorite book of the Bible.

His favorite book.

His life verse.

His favorite sport.

His best friend.

His favorite shirt.

His greatest weakness.

His ideas on family.

His ideas on respect.

And everything else there is to know.

I know that when I fall in love with a man for what is in his head, and what is in his heart, everything physical will come. It might not be perfect, and we might run into issues when we get to that point.

But to know that our values are the same and we are in this life, together, for the rest of our time here on earth, will make the waiting worth it.

I pray daily for a partner in this life. I pray for someone that I will share my life with. The person who will one day be the father of my kids and the one that I will be excited when he comes home every day. The one I can hear in my head showing and telling our daughters about the respect a man should provide. The one I can hear telling our sons "Go get that door for your mama, son." The one that I can laugh with, cry with, and spend the rest of my life with.

I realize I have standards that most people deem a bit over the top.

But he is out there. I know that the man that God will one day give me exists. The one who will respect me, love me, and show me that we can be together for the rest of our lives.

And fall in love more and more, every single day.

Its possible. And I will tell you this: it will one day come. I might wait thirty more years. But I am perfectly content waiting for that.

I love this quote.

I've waited. And I promise, this will all

be worth waiting for.

iN BETWEEN SEASON

2012-01-16T15:43:00.002-06:00

I'm taking a break from my post series about what I want to be to write something DiFFERENT.

Something that is challenging my days, my nights, and my weeks.

Something I struggle to find the words to write.

Ironic, if you wanted to know my opinion.

I'm writing about a topic that often finds its words in tears, and a mind that is overcome with fear.

A topic that I have protested with God about writing.

Because I am sure that the world would not want to know my thoughts about this on little word:

WAiT.

I feel like I am in a season of waiting in so many arenas of my life.

A husband.

A career that isn't just a job.

A place to live that I don't plan on leaving before the year is up.

I'm going to get real with you:

This isn't where I thought I would be.

I love my life.

But this isn't the life that I had planned for myself.

I planned on being married by 21. And I'm 23 and a half with no one in sight.

I work a job that I really don't think I'll be doing the rest of my life.

And I'm moving in a couple weeks, again.

And the reality is that deep down, I am happy.

I love this life.

Not because its perfect, or that I particularly enjoy moving my entire life.

But because its my life.

This is my journey.

This is a part that God called me to live.

And in this season, I want to live it out completely.

This is a quote I love:

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”

It sums up where I am at this stage in life.

This is my life, my journey, and with me and Jesus, we together are going to do something that will make a mark on this world.

Sometime recently, I decided that I am not going to depend on someone else for the quality of my life.

I decided that I want something great out of life.

I want to leave a mark on my world.

I have no idea what that life actually looks like.

But I wouldn't have chosen the life I live now.

And this journey is beautiful.

I have a friend named Sara who is living this out. She wouldn't have chosen to be where she is today, but her blog is a clear indication that she is making the most out of life exactly where God has placed her. And our God is beautiful. And oh so faithful with our lives.

Our sovereign God is the BEST.

And everything that he plans is the best.

That is my prayer.

To walk in HiS plan.

And to live the life that he has called me to live.

And not an imitation.

Sorry there aren't any pictures.

Maybe I'll update it with some, but these are my thoughts.

i WANT TO BE, PART TWO

2012-01-07T22:44:00.002-06:00

I want to be, Part Two.

Let's get right down to it.

I want to live a life marked by GENEROSITY.

And these are the thoughts that are coming out of your mind right now:

"Kristyn, you don't have much money." (by American standards)

And I promise you, that idea is extremely true.

But I still want to be marked by generosity.

I want to give something to people wherever I go.

This week, I had the chance to buy some clearance Christmas candy that a store associate brought to my attention that was super cheap. I'm not a fan of chocolate, but this person said "I just hope some are left after I get off my shift later tonight." I found them, and there was only few boxes left, and the price of them promised there wouldn't be any left when she got off. So I picked up the few that were left, checked out, and asked the cashier for another copy of the receipt and another bag that had just the candy in it. She gladly did so.

That gave me the chance to make a lady's day through generosity.

And it cost me less than a dollar.

Her face was priceless.

And I walked away reminded of the fact the generosity is not about money. I can take the money that God has entrusted to my care for a time, and use it to bless someone, especially someone that most people fail to see. To buy someone's coffee or dinner, or to give away clothes that (to God be the Glory) don't fit anymore.

And it could change everything.

In Him,

I want to be..

2012-01-02T21:05:00.003-06:00

for the first point, am I the only person who gets totally inspired when I am at the gym? I promise that yesterday (our gym was closed) I was literally speechless. I had nothing I felt of worth to blog, but today, I have an idea that I think is going to take me a couple weeks to totally work out of my mind. So here goes:

This is the basic idea:

I want to be known for a few things.

In other words, that anyone who spends any time with me would be able to say "These are thing things that this girl is about."

People are known for something, good or bad.

Tim Tebow is known as an NFL quarterback who stands for his faith at any chance he gets.

Mother Teresa was known for her work with the hungry in her lifetime.

I want to be known for a few things.

Not success, popularity, fame, money, power, a great job, a great husband, or great kids.

I'll break this down into a few blogs over the next few days, but this one comes first because it inspired my thinking.

Our WoD (in Crossfit speak that's a workout of the day) was a good one.

We ran. And ran some more. It was cold. and I decided it would be a GREAT idea to do the WoD at 4p, work on skills at 5p, and do half of a workout at the 6p workout. I will pay for that. But I feel pretty fabulous right now.

But that's beside the point.

The owner of our gym was training the 6p class, and as I was working the distance, he said something to this effect:

"Kristyn, you're a great encourager."

I strive to be a person that people want to be around. And a mile into a 2.5 mile workout, or 2 rounds into a 5 round workout, it becomes about heart. Its about that person that is inside of you who really wants this. Especially with five rounds, when you finish two, the finish line, for me at least, seems almost out of reach.

And this is what changed my life:

When I first started CrossFit, people would tell me, "Kristyn, you got this."

And almost every day, someone will look at EVERY athlete in our gym and tell them, by name, that they CAN push though that round or rep.

Something that will change a person's life is simply this:

Know their name and use it.

If I'm struggling with a round or a particular rep, it totally motivates me when someone calls me out by name and tells me that I got this. People knowing my name has changed my life in ways I couldn't even begin to explain.

And the opposite of that? At work, I am called Anderson (its the name of the company I work for). I can promise you that I am almost positive 95% of the people that work in the store I work in don't know my name. And the 5% who do, I have the privilege to know better than I have most coworkers. It doesn't particularly bother me that they don't know my name.

But can you guess where I am excited to get every day, and where I go because I am supposed to be there?

I realize some people don't particularly enjoy working, but I really do like to work. I enjoy that challenge every day.

But I think I would enjoy it more if people used my name, rather than my company's.

I want to be marked by being a person that does two things consistantly:

1) Encourage the people around me to pursue their best.

2) Use their name in that process, every day.

You really might not think its possible to go on. I was there just YESTERDAY.

But it is, and you'll see this: encourage the people around you and find yourself much more positive in the process.

I want to be the type of person that people know that they will be encouraged when I see them.

To make the people around me, no matter who the world labels them to be, know that they matter, and that they are loved.

It might be a WoD. It might be just another day at work.

But if what if we all consistently made the people around us feel important and loved?

I have a feeling it would change so many things not only in our lives, but literally the lives of every single person we encounter.

In Him,

GiVEWAY

2012-01-01T20:43:00.001-06:00

This is a sponsored post by TOMS. I was given a copy of the book Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, and a copy to give away to my blog readers. To enter to win, just leave a comment below. I will draw for a winner on Wednesday, January 4. (Please make sure I have a way to contact you through your comment!)

I love these shoes:

And got the chance to review this book:

Great book, great vision, and great ideas for the future. One for one? Something I can agree and see. I buy a pair of shoes (my favorite) or glasses (a necessity in my life if I wanna be able to see) and know that another person will get the benefit makes it matter to me, in a big way.

And they want to give you a copy of this book! =) I'll draw a winner on Wednesday, so just leave a comment and a way to contact you and I'll be happy to send this your way. And if you tweet about it (tag me in the tweet @kristynramsey) and leave another comment telling me that you did that, you get an extra entry. And if you are a new follower to my blog, that's another entry as well. Just be sure to leave a comment for each thing you do! =))

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Kristyn

Christmas

2011-12-24T23:40:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: although this post might not fit with your "idea" of Christmas, these are my thoughts as we are 45 minutes away from Christmas Day in the time zone I reside in. I appreciate your understanding before you read this.

I am truly not sure what the closing line of this post will read.

Most of the time, I am usually aware of how I want things to end, the clincher that most people call it, I have an idea that I start with, and one I finish with, and I develop the ideas in between those thoughts.

So I apologize if this is random, or has a closing idea that doesn't seems to fit with your idea of Christmas.

1) I am thankful that Pastor David cleared up some carols for our church.

You might want to wait til the end of the day to hear his sermons from that last few weeks. But I will say that I went to church with some family today for Christmas Eve services, and the sermon that P.David had preached was something that had stuck with me.

(Let me ask you this question. Have you met a baby, especially a newborn? Was the first night the baby was born a silent one? Didn't think so. And sorry for ruining the traditional candle lighting song for you.)

2) I've come to realize that things have changed, and I don't know if they will ever go back to what they were before. Not really something that I want to talk about at length on my blog, but realizing that sometimes things changing isn't always a bad thing.

3) This is all about Jesus.

It seems so simple. Christmas = birth of Christ = Jesus. But somehow, in our culture, after a job in one of the biggest retailers for the holiday, I realized we have missed it. Somewhere, the birth of Jesus got thrown to the side. It became about this guy:

To me: this picture says more than I can say:

This is the expectation in our culture among children around Christmas time. I read a post today of a parent who budgets

$1000

for Christmas for her ONE child.

Eleven MiLLiON people in the horn of Africa are needing assistance to EAT this Christmas. (Source)

Eleven million people. I know I've said it before, and probably too much. Probably more often than someone would even deem acceptable.

But those 11 million are REAL PEOPLE.

They are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends.

They are not just a number. I really don't know that we grasp 11 million people struggling for the things that are considered by ever culture to be basic necessity.

This doesn't mean that under our Christmas tree is empty. I promise you that.

But this does mean that our choices have changed. 1000s of dollars spent on presents is a thing of the past.

Christmas has become about Jesus, instead of him being the afterthought in the process.

And that changes everything,

In Him,

P.S. I will have a GiVEWAY that starts on Wednesday!

I've come to realize...

2011-12-12T23:39:00.001-06:00

our lives are not always marked by big moments.

But little ones.

I started a thing called

CrossFit

(check out the link here for the gym I workout in)

I have a feeling that the topics of my blogs for a while will somehow be inspired by the oh so fabulous WOD's and the conversations and interactions that happen in the midst of my time spend on that concrete.

Tell me what you think about this thought:

It doesn't matter how you start, only two things do:

1) That you start in the first place.

2) That you finish what you set out to do.

I want to talk about these things a little more. I am convinced that they are revolutionary if we see them for what they truly are.

This idea changed my life:

If you don't start somewhere, you won't get anywhere.

I walked into the gym for the first time, with little workout experience, and a defining negative experience that marked the last time I worked on any sort of machine in a gym. I will admit I was more scared for that moment than I had been in a long time.

And something changed when I heard this the thought above.

I'm definately not where I want to be. But even 12 days into this, I am further than I was twelve days ago. And headed in a direction toward my dreams. And I'm not where I used to be.

This is the other thought that changed my world:

It doesn't matter how you start if you don't finish strong.

I promise you that every Crossfitter will tell you that there is often a point in their workout when they feel like giving up. Today, we did five rounds. After the second round, I was ready to quit. I didn't want to do any more sit ups. And I definately didn't want to walk into the cold to run some more meters.

But I did it.

Because it doesn't matter how you start a race if you fail to finish.

I probably had one of the worst times on the board today. Its a part of the growing process. I might be the worst one in my gym, but I remind myself of two things:

1) How many people out there didn't start their workout today?

2) How many people started a workout and didn't give it everything they had?

I can rest in bed tonight knowing that not only did I complete a workout that I actually did all of the rounds for the first time, I finished knowing there wasn't a whole lot of anything else that I could have given to be better.

I gave it everything I had.

I have committed to that idea EVERY DAY, and iN EVERY FACET OF LiFE.

To work and give it everything I have.

To do everything to the best of my ability.

And that, I think, Jesus will honor.

And that's incredible because I am a sinner in desperate need of a Saviour.

And without him, I am nothing.

Unreasonable?

2011-12-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

"Reasonable people adapt to the world. Unreasonable peoplepersist in trying to adapt the world to themselves. Therefore, all progress depends onunreasonable people." --George Bernard Shaw

I can promise you that I am, at times, unreasonable.

The people who are around me will be HAPPY to tell you that.

Case in point: I make a big deal out of injustice.

I don't like people to be treated differently.

The word FAiR is one that I really like.

I see some people get handed everything in life and have circumstances that just 'line up for them"

and I have the privilege of living with and doing life with people who do not.

People who have been handed circumstances beyond their control.

People who are affected daily because they were not born into a family that has a ton of money,

or influence in their society.

People who were born in a society that poverty is the norm.

People who live with the reality that they aren't sure where their next meal will come from.

People who work harder than most "middle class" will ever understand.

LONG HOURS,

CRAPPY SCHEDULES,

WORKiNG HOLiDAYS,

NO PAiD VACATiONS,

NO PAiD DAYS OFF.

And most middle or upper class people will tell you something to the effect:

"They don't work hard enough."

And when I come home from Africa, I realize that is a lie.

An utter, complete lie.

(Yes, I realize there are people out there who DON'T work hard, or try to get ahead in life. But for the "poor" people some classify as "those" people, they work harder than most will ever have the chance to witness.)

Kids who run their households.

A teenager who doesn't take care of children is definately not the norm.

Kids with responsibilities only assigned to adults in America.

So, I think being "unreasonable" is okay some of the time.

To say that this isn't okay might be considered unreasonable to some.

To fight for the people around the world who don't have the means to speak for themselves.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.

Proverbs 31:8 NLT

Another version says:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Proverbs 31:8 NiV

But I am pretty sure that's something that Jesus would want us to do.

Destitute. EXTREME POVERTY.

I really don't want to have to look at Jesus and tell him that I lived in the lap of luxury while I knew my brothers and sisters around the world were starving,

And that might make me unreasonable.

But I end with the same thought I started with:

"Reasonable people adapt to the world. Unreasonable peoplepersist in trying to adapt the world to themselves. Therefore, all progress depends onunreasonable people." --George Bernard Shaw

I am going to change the world. I promise you that I will change the world. Because I refuse to live and know what I know and do nothing about it.

That just won't happen for me.

I'm going to do something about it.

Our Last Great Hope

2011-12-02T11:08:00.001-06:00

I realize its been a while since I wrote a book review for Thomas Nelson.

And most of the time, that means I wasn't a fan of the book.

This time is totally the opposite.

To say this book wrecked my world is an understatement.

This book changed my perspective on the great commission. I think as an American twenty-something, I realized how much the Great Commission seems out of reach. It seemed like something that people who are older than I am should be doing.

But the reality is this:

1) I am single.

2) I have little debt.

3) I am not tied down anywhere at this stage in life.

I think this is something I kept in the back of my mind, but Ronnie Floyd wrote words that changed something in my mind. He writes points that seem a bit repetitive as the book progresses, but a great book none the less.

And for that, I am thankful.

That there are people that take fulfilling the great commission as seriously as anyone else.

This is definately a book you need to pick up!

*I was provided this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

It is CHRiSTMAS TiME

2011-12-01T22:56:00.001-06:00

I don't think I am the only person who thought this thought today:

How can it be CHRiSTMAS already?

This is the Christmas tree, undecorated in our house. Its decorated now though, and I LOVE it.

Shouldn't it be summer?

I could live in summer all the time, and I promise you that I don't really appreciate having to bundle up just to walk out to the car in the morning on the way to work.

I miss this:

And this:

I love the beach.

I hate sand, but I love the beach.

Love eating dinner by the sea, and getting to see some great friends in the process (yes, I have some GREAT friends who live at the beach that we go visit all the time in the summer.

But I realize that time passes. Each day, we are each a day older, and a day closer to our death.

And the ultimate question we face?

What will we do with our lives that will make them count in light of this vapor in which we call our lives?

I can love the beach, and I do. But I want to be sure that I live my life that matters. As much as I love the life I live in here, I realize that God has a bigger plan for my life than I ever had for myself.

And I anything that I love, I am promised that whatever I give up for Jesus,

I will get back.

And that to me is the greatest promise I could ever ask for.

I Wonder...

2011-11-23T13:42:00.001-06:00

I wonder sometimes what this thing called grace really is.

To understand why God, in his wisdom, would love someone like me.

Hi! Just a pic of me just in case you don't know what I look like.

A wrecked sinner, who literally needs him for every single breath.

Are you like me?

I'm not a fan of a person who NEEDS to be with me every single second of the day. I don't particularly enjoy being hung on, or talked to all the time.

I enjoy silence and peace as a part of my day, just like I enjoy talking as a part of my day.

I work and enjoy the parts of my day that its just me working, and not a whole ton of people asking me questions, although that is a part of my day most of the time.

But...

I need Jesus.

All the time, in every part of my day.

In the moments that I feel like I don't need him, and the ones that I do.

The parts of my life that I do every day anyway, and the parts that happen ONCE iN A LiFETiME.

I need Him. I need him more than I need air.

“They say to be a leader, not a follower. I say that a follower of Jesus is the most notable position one could hold.”

I want to lead, but I want to be the kind of leader that is a leader because I FOLLOW JESUS.

Not because I am a good writer, or a good person. Not because I do "good" things, or act in a way that seems noble to the outside. Not because of anything I have done, but because He did.

My pastor has been quoted to say this often in our worship gatherings:
"If the answer to the question of 'Why are you saved?' begins anything with "Because I..." we have got it all wrong."
(And as a side note, he and his wife Heather just adopted their first daughter, after having two boys, this week. Read about their journey to Mara Ruth here.)

I want to know Jesus. Everything that there is to possibly know about who he is, and what is possible when we are on the same team. To know that because of HiS grace, I am a DAUGHTER of the MOST HiGH.

God is so good.

FLiRT?

2011-11-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

What a title, I think.

Flirt? Kristyn, really. I realize that your single and all, but really, do you have to talk about flirting?

I do.

One because honestly not a whole lot of flirting is ever going on in my life. Tell my husband I'm looking for him if you happen to see him out there. Cause then I might have the flirting you have in mind going on. But for now, this is the topic on my mind.

How often do I think: how close can I come without sinning, instead of running the other way?

In other words, how often do I FLiRT with my sin instead of committing to my relationship with Christ?

Honestly?

More often than I care to admit.

More often than I let on to the people around me.

I want the normal things in life that most girls my age do:

A HUSBAND

A HOUSE

KiDS

A GREAT JOB

A JESUS THAT FiTS iNTO MY PLAN

THE AMERiCAN DREAM

VACATiONS

There are days that I just want to be

NORMAL.

But the more days I am granted on this planet, the more often I realize that NORMAL is a dryer setting.

Because the gospel commands our lives.

There are approximately 2,770,000,000 people that have not heard the gospel right now.

These faces are just some. Just a handful of a number of people that I cannot grasp on a daily basis. Entire people groups that have people who are born, live, and die and NEVER hear the gospel.

This good news truly is good news.

But what does my 'flirting' have to do with this?

One of my favorite quotes sums it up:

DELAYED OBEDiENCE iS DiSOBEDiENCE.

If I decided that I want to flirt with the world instead of live the life I am called to do, I think I would delay obedience. And honestly, this is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

It's simple: I want more Jesus. All the time.

And if I lose this desire, I've missed it. Totally, 200% missed it.

The way of Jesus looks different for each of us. I imagine that it was different for John than it was for Martha. Different for Peter than it was for Matthew.

But, we are ALL called to follow Jesus.

No matter the cost.

No matter what your family thinks.

No matter the friends just laughed at you when you told them.

NO MATTER.

But...

There is no excuse. None.

Always Follow Jesus.

To wait.

2011-11-17T20:40:00.001-06:00

To wait:

To wait for something that you desire is the testing of howbad you actually want that thing, and I fully believe it makes you thankful forthe things that you do have or for that thing when it comes to you.

I’ve been in a season of waiting for the last few years ofmy life, and it sometimes feels like I’m simply waiting for my life to start.But as I grow in this season, I am realizing that the waiting is what has mademe thankful for the moments that I do get after waiting for them. I don’t knowthat I would appreciate something nearly as much if I haven’t waited for whatfeels like forever.

The other thing in the season of waiting is that God isrefining you. I often think about this thing with my future husband. I knowthat in this season of singleness, I am becoming the wife that I will one dayneed to become. I wanted, at 18, to be married absolutely then, but I look backnow at 22, and realize that if I would have been married before, I wouldn’thave had the experiences that I am thankful for, and the moments that I amsometimes not so thankful for but were the moments that shaped me as a person.I’ve learned what its like to be home alone, do have moments that I am 100%okay with silence, to pursue God, and to know what its like to have arelationship with the Creator of the universe. I know for a fact that I don’twant to give up the things I have gained in this season of waiting thus far,and am not rushing God because of those things. It doesn’t make the desire goaway, but it will one day make me a better spouse because I am chosing to usethis time to advance the gospel, rather than focusing on the things that I feellike I am missing.

Waiting is tough. Waiting doesn’t always feel beautiful. AFriday night at home alone is sometimes one of the best crying sessions a girlcan have. But this is a beautiful life, and even in the tough moments, I findmyself thankful for this one time, even when it doesn’t feel good.

who are those people you call friends?

2011-11-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

I wish I would have the time to write individual blogs about the incredible people that I have the chance to do life with, and I think there will be times that I highlight just one of them, but today, I want to invite you to meet them as a group. One of my favorite blogs to write is a post about how much an individual means to me, because it helps me see so clearly about my life, and the people that I 'run' with.

These are some (and YES, many are missing) of the incredible people that are in my life:

To realize that without friends, I wouldn't be the person I am.

And that's not the point of this blog.

Really.

Relationships, I am learning, are one of the things we have to do intentionally.

Good relationships are the product of hard work.

It takes simple things with incredible, incredible results.

Things like:

1) Pick up the phone. Call the people you consider important in your life.

2) Encourage the mess out of the people you run with, and watch your own life be TRANSFORMED.

3) Serve the people you run with. Learn that relationships are give and take, and learn and live this philosophy:

Blessed are those who give without remembering and take without forgetting.

Be a blessing for people to be around.

4) Learn what makes them feel loved. (I am a firm believer in the book and ideas behind The Five Love Languages.) Something that makes you feel good doesn't make other people feel that way.

5) Intentionally invite people to do the things you have to do anyway. One of my best friends in the world is someone that I often go to the grocery store with. Why? Because we simply want to spend time with each other and my family appreciates eating every day too (win-win).

6) Use social media to your advantage. If you write on someone's Facebook wall, you don't just write it for them to see, but the people that they run with as well. I've seen it when you write on someone else's wall, OTHER people find the motivation to encourage them as well.

I want to be known as someone who consistently takes the first steps in relationships.

Intentionally love the people around you. I am incredibly blessed to call these people my friends, brothers, sisters, and more in life. They are people that I would be there for in a heartbeat God forbid something happened to them. And I realize that life occurs in seasons, and there will be a chance that some of these people will not be around on a regular basis in this life, but I get to spend eternity with these people.

And that drives me to do what I do every single day.

In Him,

Papers

2011-11-13T14:00:00.000-06:00

If you would walk into my room today, you would see piles of papers.

A pile on my nightstand.

A couple piles on the dresser.

Two envelope fulls on the floor.

Another couple in my backpack.

A pack of open index cards waiting for bible verses.

And even more books.

Piles of them.

Everywhere.

I'm a learner.

Reading is something I really deep down enjoy.

Finding out more "things" is something that I simply enjoy.

Being an expert in any single category simply doesn't interest me.

But learning about a whole lot of categories does.

Knowing silly things, like there are 118 ridges on the edge of a dime is something I will know. But the realities are these:

1)Learning a statistic doesn't change life for an orphan or a widow.

2) Knowing how many people die every day from a certain cause doesn't make less people die.

3)Knowing how many people groups are unreached means that those people still remain unreached.

4) Talking about reaching America means you know how to tell people that you might do something. Maybe. If the fame doesn't get to you first. But America's not getting it.

This verse convicts me often: James 1:27

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

The world religion occurs five times in the ESV (Which is my choice version)

Acts 25:19

Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

Acts 26:5

They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

Colossians 2:23

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

James 1:26

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

James 1:27

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Without getting into the Hermenutics of each verse, it seems when you look that religion is negative in every verse except James 1:27. That somewhere, somehow we get it wrong.

I can have all these papers, read a book a day, study the word for hours every day (like they did in the Old and New Testaments) and know the word in every detail, but I can still not get it. I can still know something, and realize that my knowledge doesn't change the facts.

This is the beautiful thing:

Our actions are things that change the facts.

Actions change lives.

Look at:

CHiLD SPONSORSHiP

MiSSiONARiES

EVANGELiSM

And SO many other things show us.

I think part of our problem is not our actions, but our inaction.

If that isn't the whole problem.

And I am not convinced.

Its like the StarFish Story:

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into theocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?"

The youth replied, "Throwing starfish back into theocean.
The surf is up and the tideis going out. If I don't throw themback, they'll die."

"Son", theman said, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach andhundreds of starfish? You can'tmake a difference!"

Afterlistening politely, the boy bent down, picked up anotherstarfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then,smiling at the man, hesaid,
"I made a difference for that one."

I think we don't do anything because we look at how big the problems actually are.

And do you know what changed my thinking?

Stop telling your God how big your storm is and start telling your storms how big your God is.

I realized that I will tell God how I can't handle this problem, and then realize that I am talking to the one who knew the problem before I ever knew it existed.

I love this quote:

and this is one of my life mantras:

And isn't it good to rest in the fact that the Sovereign God of the universe knows everything about you, and your situation? He knows how to solve hunger, or other issues that keep me up at night.

But he chooses to use us, to let us be a part of it.

I find great comfort in that. While I realize that this is something most people already get, but I forget. I let my circumstances get the best of me.

And today, I was reminded.

And somewhere along the way, I am pretty sure we will change the world.

Are you coming?

Why going changes you in a way sending can't.

2011-11-09T19:00:00.000-06:00

"The people who had once been anonymous in their suffering were now my friends."

~Katie Davis

Founder and Director of Amazima

Why going changes you in a way sending can't.

Meet a few friends.

I think its good to give to ministries, both here in the states and abroad. Tithing is a biblical command. But, it would be easy for us to give to a ministry but leave our hearts at the end of our names on a check. Its easy, say, to give a family a few chickens in someone's honor at Christmas, or buy a necklace to support an African mother doing everything she can to better the life of her sons and daughters.

Meet a girl who can dance and loves to smile, as much as she is trying to hide it in this picture.

But when you go, things change. When you take time out of your year to meet those kids and people face to face, things change. As Pastor David talked about in Secret Church this past weekend, when you know their names it is hard to forget them. To remember what its like to let them hug your neck, or make residence on your shoulders (I'll blog about that story one day), it changes the person you are because they stop being a part of a statistic and become a part of our reality.

We were once strangers but now call each other friends.

When I pray for the orphans around the world, I don't see just faceless dolls, but I see real kids' faces. Real kids, with names, personalities that will change your world, and stories. Kids who can tell you what its like to not have anything to eat. Kids who laugh at you trying to speak a bit of their language with your (in their eyes) funny American accents.

Kids who are orphans, who often don't know where their next meal will come from. And preparing for tomorrow, most just hope they will actually get to that point. But their smiles will light up the darkest of circumstances. I have a kiddo that I met a few years ago who has been a permanent fixture in a photo frame in my room, and there have been SO many days that I would come home from work having had a bad day, and her smile will literally turn my day around.

Meet Mercy.

These kids will love you more than you could ever imagine. And I can guarantee, something in your heart will change for them.

This is one of my favorite pictures!

When you meet them, you will never, ever forget them.

I'm trying..

2011-11-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

to post something a little less intense if you will. The Lord has been working on my heart this week, and that overflows into my blog often times.

I love life. I am happy just to be here. And sometimes, I forget to thank God for the people he put in my life. Its easy for me to focus on the big issues and big parts of my heart and forget some of the people who encourage me along this journey. The people who make it possible for me to get up in the morning. The people who make it possible for me to live my dreams. I'm the kind of girl who needs lots of encouragement. The people around me are an incredible part of my day to day.

So meet...

SAM

To put him into words is tough. Simply because if you know him, you realize what a simply incredible person he is. He's probably more like my brother than anything else. We met a few years ago, and somehow always keep each other in our lives. Sam has the biggest hearts and is the biggest servant you will ever meet. Where ever Sam goes, he blesses the people around him.

And Sam is moving. (Insert Sad Face Here). Sam is moving to Tampa to serve with Unleashed. They are an incredible group of people with the heart to reach their city, and Tampa is getting a blessing having Sam move down there.

As much as I don't want to lose the ability to see him on a regular basis, I am reminded of the blessing he is in my life, and know that he will bless the people around him in Tampa. Sam is the type of person everybody wants as a friend. I am excited to see what God does with Sam on his next step!

God is so so good.

God didn't ask me... Part Three

2011-11-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

God didn't ask me to just listen to the Word, but COMMANDED me to follow it.

He didn't just give me the Word to make a nice spot through the dust on my bedside table, or to make my backpack heavier as I carry it around.

He commanded that I follow the things in it.

He doesn't just want me to be satisfied in life. I promise you that I could move to the beach, and spend my days living the beach life. I would like to work (mostly because I deep down enjoy work), but I would love to spend my weekends on the beach. I would truly enjoy life if I could work a job I loved, when I want, and have no worries in life.

But that kind of life becomes quickly about me and would remain that way.

And probably one thing that the scriptures portray quickly is that our lives, in submission to Christ, quickly become not about us anymore.

We learn that God didn't make not enough.

Meaning there is enough food to go around for every person in the world to eat a meal every day. When he made the world, He said that it was good. But why is this idea true?

"The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of theworld is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving-Since you've entered this site at least 200 people have died ofstarvation. Over 4 million people will die this year."

Let me put something into perspective that changes me all the time.

Those 4 million (that's 4,000,000) people have families. They have names. They are sons, daughters, mothers, daughters, sisters, brothers, fathers, and friends. They are

REAL PEOPLE.

They are people with their own thoughts and ideas. They are dreamers, world changers, potential game changers, athletes, future government officials, and everything else you can or could imagine.

And hunger could be something that has changed their lives drastically in ways that we, as most other Americans, cannot understand.

For me, things changed for me when I met people who experienced hunger on a daily basis. When I met kids with swollen bellies who somehow always found their way onto my shoulders, I forgot about statistics. I forget about four million and thing about five. I think about kids who have stolen the contents of my heart; I think about the children that will one day, through adoption, be mine.

And I will stay committed to the cause of changing the world. To help the people around me understand that it is possible to change the world in ways that they don't dream possible.

You might not ever know my name here on earth. But its not fame in earth that matters to me. It matters to make changes in our world, to give justice to people who have no ability to speak for themselves. Sending children to war is not okay. Someone dying from a disease that is treated with antibiotics in America is not something that I am okay with.

Is it okay with you?

This is the vision...

2011-11-03T12:30:00.000-05:00

The Vision

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?"

I open my mouth and words come out like this…

The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army.

And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.

They wouldn't even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.

They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.

It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose

that they might one day win the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground

The whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking

Revolutionaries dreaming once again

Mystery is scheming in whispers

Conspiracy is breathing…

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs.

Who can stop them?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials.

The advertisers cannot mold them. Hollywood cannot hold them.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row -guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)

Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centers.

Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.

How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

God didn't ask me... Part 2

2011-11-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

Let's get right to the topic at hand.

God didn't ask me to care for the widows and the orphans in our society. He commanded it.

He didn't ask my opinion on how easy or hard it would be, or what the best way possible to make the world function. He simply commanded in

James 1:27:

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Its not easy. Its not the norm in the society that I was born in. Caring for other is simply not the American Dream. This is the idea that is planted in the mind of most American children: get a job, get married, get a house, drive a nice car, and have a great life with vacations to tropical destinations. None of these things are inherently bad. At all. But its these things that will make us act in

DiSOBEDiENCE.

Caring for the oppressed in our world is NOT AN OPTiON.

And I realize, for each of us, that looks different. Caring for the oppressed might be having a sponsored child in your family. That might mean two week yearly trips to a country outside of the states. That might mean a summer spent abroad. That might mean taking a year of and serving in another context. That might be raising money or awareness for those people. That might be supporting a missionary on the field by praying for them, or helping to pay their expenses. That means helping out a single mom with some errands. That is dropping groceries off to a family that you know needs them.

And the beauty of God is He doesn't call us to do it all, just to do

SOMETHiNG.

It looks different for all of us.

It doesn't mean you have to live on the street and eat out of the trashcan for dinner. It doesn't mean that you don't have clothes in your closet to wear, or your lights working at home, or a car that takes you to and from the places you need to go.

But caring for widows and orphans is a command that I take seriously.

Will you join me on this journey?

God didn't ask me... Part 1

2011-11-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

I will preface to say I'm not sure how many parts this topic will become. But I think its a launching point for a great "series" if you will.

God didn't ask me.

Those are loaded, loaded words.

But God didn't ask me to see the whole staircase, he simply asked me to take the first step.

To step out in a direction called faith, like Moses, and truly, I have no idea what the destination of this journey I will call life will be. But I fully believe that life isn't about the destination, but about the journey to get there.

Faith is tricky. But the commands are simple. Follow Him. Know Him, and introduce other people to Him. And somewhere down the road, I complicate things. I make things that are simple more complicated. I make ideas in my mind that make simple things extremely complicated.

I'm in a journey. A journey to a place that I'm not sure of. A journey to find God, through whatever means he feels necessary to take me on.I'm not crazy, I promise (although Elizabeth might try to tell you otherwise). But this sums me up:

I am a simple girl with a call on my life to serve a radical God for the rest of the time that I have on this planet.

I would even tell you, I have a RADICAL call on my life. One that I can't run away from, or even try to do something other than serve Him with everything inside of me. And that means that everything I thought I wanted out of life is no longer something I will pursue every day. We go to work, to pursue a career; we date people, to build a marriage relationship. And I want BOTH of those things and more. I promise that my best friend will tell you the topic of our conversation is often marriage. But there is something inside of me that is burned into the fiber of my heart. Something bigger, greater, and harder than I ever dreamed.

Good things. Amazing opportunities. But there a little unconventional. It means some people will be shocked, and hopefully no one's feelings will be hurt in the process.

Because for me, it comes down to this:

Kristyn, this is your life. These moments, you, and you alone, will have to answer for.

The only other person who will be there, at that moment, is God. So I'm pretty positive that seeking his approval is the most important.

And the approval of the people around me is not something that I want because with it often comes a time in our lives that Jesus isn't first.

And I am 100% not okay with that.

In the months to come

2011-11-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

This picture will make a lot more sense.

But right now, I will just show you the picture.

To Walk With God...

2011-10-26T18:48:00.001-05:00

To walk with God means to walk through the seasons of life that he puts in front of you. I like how the song "Desert Song" (see the YouTube video here: Desert Song).

Verse 1: This is my prayer in the desert, And all that's within me feels dry. This is my prayer in the hunger in me. My God is a God who provides.
My prayer in the desert is the season that I am personally walking out of lately. Its been probably one of the toughest seasons of my life overall, but I have learned what it means to follow God even when I don't feel like doing it. It means following God when it is not underst

Verse 2: And this is my prayer in the fire, In weakness or trial or pain. There is a faith proved Of more worth than gold, So refine me Lord through the flames

Verse 3: And this is my prayer in the battle And triumph is still on it's way, I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ; So firm on His promise I'll stand

Verse 4: This is my prayer in the harvest ,when favor and providence flow/ I know I'm filled to be emptied again. The seed I've received I will sow

Chorus: And I will bring praise; I will bring praise. No weapon forged against me shall remain. I will rejoice; I will declare. God is my victory and He is here

As a father

2011-10-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

Scripture portrays God as a Father so often in scripture. That makes a struggle for some, but for my own life, God as Father is one of the most positive ways to describe God. The memories and stories that I associate with my dad are some of the best memories that I have.

I am a Daddy's girl and have been from the time I was a little girl. My dad is my hero. He has been one of my best friends since I was a child. I have a lot of amazing memories of times with my dad, and I realized when I got older that my sisters didn’t get the memories that I have. My relationship with my dad is one that I treasure, something that I wouldn’t give up for almost anything in the world. My dad wasn’t and isn’t perfect, but he loved me the best that he knew how. He would give me anything he had, drops anything when I needed him, but he let me learn the lessons that I needed to learn. My dad was a rendition of one of the best Father’s a girl could have ever asked for.

I’ve learned that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have it all together in life and that is okay. My dad showed me that I am always going to be a work in progress, that never in life will I arrive at something that I will consider success; success is an everyday battle that one will fight. Success is constantly giving your all to ever situation. Success does not come in a package or a moment, but rather the every time you give yourself to what God has given you with. My parents were not supposed to have any kids. They married each other without any intention of having children; God had a different plan. My dad faces every day with a smile, knowing that he has been given a gift when he was the father to a bunch of girls. If I could live my life knowing that everything around me was a gift, my world would be so different.

I see God in my daddy, and I am blessed by my relationship with him. Without my dad and the memories that he gave me, and the constant love that he gives to me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am blessed. I am honored to call my life my own.

A Shirt three sizes too big..

2011-10-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

and the reason it finds its way onto my shoulders on a fairly regular basis.

Its been six months. I think if you live anywhere near the state of Alabama, there was a pause in your heart as soon as your eyes pass those words. I think, because somewhere, deep down, it changed us. All of us.

A little back story:

The church I attend celebrated the ten year anniversary of the church. What a time to celebrate the life of our church. It was celebrated right before the tornados hit our beautiful city. As a part of the celebration, the church gave away tshirts. And as I threw, literally, some clothes in the car to get to "ground zero" in Tuscaloosa, one of the tshirts that made it was the church had given out. It was like we were operating in a dream. Packing seemed almost fake, and while I remembered most of the things I needed, I never dreamed I would need more than one Highlands shirts. But after being awake for two straight days literally, you realize something. Changing clothes and having a shower can substitute for sleep in a pinch. But because of the situations we faced, Pastor Jimmy asked if we would all try to be in shirts from the church. It helped with a lot of different things, and I respected what he said. So when I went to get clothes to go get a shower at one point, I had literally worn the Highlands shirt I had with me just about out. The thing was so so dirty that after a shower, I definately didn't want to put it back on.

So that's how a shirt three sizes too big ended up in my possession. It became just as dirty as the first one I has as well, so giving it back wasn't something anyone in Tuscaloosa would have appreciated.

But it reminds me of truth of destruction. It reminds me that there is something in me that loves having the chance to do disaster relief. To get to see people come together to help the people around them. To see the church be the church. And realize that with great beauty, often comes great destruction.

The destruction is overwhelming. Even today, 15th street doesn't look like it "should" in my mind. To stop at Krispy Kreme on the way back to Birmingham was something we did more than just one time. And for it just to not be there isn't right. Knowing that the businesses, many of which still haven't returned, were businesses I frequented when I was in Tuscaloosa. Destruction doesn't get easier, as time passes. It might get less, and the roads have cleared and the debris is starting to get taken away.

But I am forever changed by a storm that hit cities across the state that I make residence in. The tornado damage is still visible when you drive in parts of our state. I learned about the shortness of life as well as the feelings of helping other people you have the chance to meet along this journey called life.

This is the question that remains:
Will we continue to live in light of the fact that the end of our lives will come, whether we are ready or not?

In Him,
Kristyn

A few new...

2011-10-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

And rediscovered loves.

1) Taco Soup.
Perfect for the cool fall days, and quick lunches for work.
I think it would be awesome with more corn though.

2) Pineapple Fanta.
I'm not a huge coke person, but this takes me back to summer, even in the middle of fall.

3) Yoga Pants.
Every girl deserves a pair to go along with a quiet, yet productive day at home.

4) Alabama Football.
I realize we are quite a ways into football season, but I love football and everything it does for our community.

5) Pinterest.
Reminds me of the wedding of my dreams, as well as the quotes I need to read, as well as the recipes I need to cook.

6) Coupon Shopping.
Yes, there is something that is great paying 50% of retail for something you will buy anyway. And after stopping at literally five different stores this week, I am thankful I wont have to go back for at least a week, well, if I don't give into the coupons that come in the paper this week.

7) Spoons.
I have two categories of things I prefer to eat. Something I can pick up, or something I can eat with a spoon. Seems silly, and probably something considered a quirk, but this is me.

8) Adoption.
The beautiful, although great loss has been suffered, picture that adoption paints. I know why adoption is the picture God uses of his love for us. Its deep, unexplainable, and more. And God is so so good.

9) Singleness.
An often discussed subject in my life, but I am so thankful for the refining that is caused in and through this season. I wouldn't be who I am today if God had brought me my husband as a college student. And even though I don't know him yet, I am so thankful that God knows better than me.

Just a bit of some of my loves, abeit random, though.

God is good.
Kristyn

Its not a book review...

2011-10-18T18:14:00.000-05:00

I found this meme at my friend Trina's blog.

1. My current obsession is work. Sad to say, but because of a few changes, I've had to focus a little bit more than normal at work. But I do, at the end of the day, enjoy where God has me right now, even if its not what I am going to do for the rest of my life.

2. Pinterest is one of my favorite web sites =)) But its a HUGE time waster. I love coming home to look at the pictures on there.

3. My greatest strength is my ability and call to lead others. While it can be a great negative, I tend to be the person who actually enjoys being in charge and does well at it. Most of the time.

4. My greatest weakness is my lack of follow through. I want to do SO many things, and there is a point you can't do anymore. I am definately getting better at this one those.

5. My life is just steps to an incredible journey I will get the opportunity to call my life. Each step is so different from the first, but I have come to enjoy each step. 

6. In high school I was shockingly quite a bit like myself today. I was a leader, and not okay with the norms of society, even then. But I have refined in so many ways I couldn't tell you each and every one. 

7. When I’m super tired I either get really frustrated, or find a burst of energy. I'm not a terrible person to be around when I don't sleep, but don't leave my hungry. Its not pretty =). And everyone who has ever experienced that would tell you that was true.

The Promises She Keeps

2011-09-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

The Promises She Keeps
Erin Healy

A singer with a terminal illness who wants to keep her memory alive. She wants people to remember her after she passes on. And music is her chance to do that. But the story has more twists and turns since the latest roller coaster ride.

I wanted to like this book and enjoy this story. But I just couldnt get into it. Over and over again, I found myself having put it down and not pick it back up for weeks. Its literally taken me months to do get through this book. And its probably collected more dust that any book I've reviewed. Time and time again I wanted to get into it, but the fantasy side of it and the often changing story that is sometimes hard to follow. I prefer a book that its a little easier and more predictable and this definately didn't fit the bill. Its one of those books that I really probably won't pick it back up ever again.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Adoption

2011-09-19T20:34:00.001-05:00

Become a fly on the wall of my house, and you’ll often find me doing the same thing: finding something interesting to look at on the computer screen. Where ever that happens to find itself, either laying in bed or sitting on the couch. And I often find myself on blogs, reading about families who are adopting children, and often those blogs happen to be of families who are adopting children from a continent (and often the same specific country) that my children, yes mine, will be born in.

Wait. Wait, Kristyn. You’re single. You aren’t even dating anyone. You work. You live in a home that is not your own. And with a family that isn’t my own blood. (But they are MY family.) You sleep every night in a twin bed.

And you’re telling me about YOUR kids?

You’re crazy.

And that I might be, but at this moment, I’m about to get real with you on the blog world about the children that I know will one day be mine, and the future husbands. The ones that will one day make a mess in my family room, or walk out the front door into our normal, then daily lives. I don’t know their names. I don’t know how many of them there actually are, honestly. But I know that they are mine. Their skin is a different color than mine. And that’s perfectly okay with me. I am as sure of the fact that they are mine as I am of my own name.

They will be a part of the life that I know God’s promised me but I haven’t been fully given. The part that I literally pray for daily. The people (the number that I don’t know) that will one day populate the house that I will cook dinner in most nights, decorate for Christmas and every other holiday that we celebrate. The days we celebrate just because we are finally together. To know that the two of the three biggest longings that have in my heart are true: to be a wife to a fabulous husband, to be a mama to some adoptive kids, and to see Jesus in my generation. To bring glory to his name, and his name alone, by being the mom that my kids deserve and the wife that my husband might deserve.

And why does this matter? Because they are mine to pray for now, even when I can’t pray for them by name, and commit my days to knowing Jesus to be the best mama I can be. Because prayer without a doubt is our most powerful weapon against the enemy, and something that should be (although its not always) a literal part of every single moment of our days.

And why does this affect you? Because the more I study the heart of God the more often I see that God’s heart is a mirror of the beauty of adoption. We were ADOPTED into the family of God, not because we deserved it but because He simply is. It’s not about us, and that’s the reason that it’s so beautiful. In this season of my life, I have seen so much of God watching families adopt children of their own, despite what the societal norm tells them is correct. I’ve watched racism become a norm because there is a blond haired mama with a baby who has skin a different color than her own. Adoption is in the heart of God’s plan, and I can see even in this season how you can love an adopted child just the same as someone or something that you are not sure the exact name. And through that process, I see God’s heart for me, even though he knows everything about me and still loves me. There are children out there that I will one day call my own, and there will literally never be something they can do to change that.

And because of that, I am learning about the heart of an Almighty God who loves me without condition. Even in my brokenness, His grace is sufficient for my weakness. His grace is complete and final. There will always be something that amazes me about my God. Daily I find myself somehow on my face because of his grace. He keeps me going, and gives me strength, through the good days and the bad. Will you let a God who wants to adopt you into His family change everything about you and give you the peace that surpasses circumstances?

Tornados

2011-08-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

Introduction
To someone who has never lived through one, this might just be a word. A thought of a natural disaster that happens in ‘some other part of the country that I don’t live in.’ But to some parts of the country, and the reality, us, that isn’t the case. They happened in MY city, in the places that I love and in places where people that I see on a regular basis live. And the reality of the situation is somehow, somewhere inside of me, they changed me. And they changed my city as well. When the news brings them up even as a possibility, part of me has a fear that they will come again. While I realize what happened in April was probably a fluke and an once in a lifetime event that will likely never happen again, it will take time for that fear to go away. And I think somewhere deep down, there will always be a part of me that doesn’t process or handle storms well because of what happened April 27th, 2011 across the state of Alabama.

That Day
It will forever be a date that sticks in my mind. I had worked earlier that day, but happily went home way before the storms began. And as I sat at home and relaxed on what I thought would be a normal day, I realized as I watched the news that this was a day that would go down in the record books. I had no idea the storms were coming, but can sometimes just go throughout my daily life without any worries of weather because it just doesn’t interest me very much. But I came to the realization after about an hour on the couch that our state was in trouble. We had the chance to watch the tornado from skycams across our state, and as it hit Tuscaloosa and places that I knew where they were, I began to feel the panic. Then I realized that these same storms were headed straight for my house.
I never dreamed I would be trying, at first unsuccessfully, to call home and tell them of the pending danger. I did get the call to go through (it took about three days before we actually had good cell phone reception again), but as I told my dad that I loved him and I would call as soon as I could after it passed, I realized there is a chance that I won’t survive this, or my house and life as I know it would change dramatically. While we survived the storm with a few trees down, the rest of my city didn’t fare well. To now be in online classes about disaster relief, I am totally changed. Our city will never be the same after that date in history.

Today
It will forever change my life. Even four months later, if a storm comes, I stay home. The thunder that never used to phase me now makes me cringe inside. Pictures resurface often, and the memories of disaster relief will forever change who I am. People who didn’t experience this don’t always understand why it scares us. Fear is something that changes you, whether consciously or subconsciously. These experiences are good overall, as much as sometimes the words seems like panic, because these storms make us more aware of the power of storms and the fact that we have to trust the God of the universe instead of anything else. Our routines make us comfortable. That day messed up my routine. That made me understand something that I thought would never happen to me did happen to me. And I am forever in awe of God’s grace.

In Closing
I’m still the same person with a major experience that shaped me as the person I am today. And I think those moments are ones that shape all of our lives. Our city will never be the same because it will take a hundred years to see trees grow to full size again, which is a major indicator of the same of our lives.

Kickball

2011-06-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

Rob Bell- Kickball

I'll write more about why this affected me tomorrow, but I really liked this video.

Kristyn

P.S. Disclaimer: I agree with what Rob says in this video, but it doesn't mean I agree with all of his videos! Have a great day.

A Champion

2011-05-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

A Champion.
To call yourself a champion, you or your team must win a game. But does winning a game make champions? No. A champion is the daily surrender it takes to be the person that the champion desires to become, in order to have the skills to win the game. It’s the workout when everyone else has left the gym. It’s pushing through three miles after a long day at work, on top of a long weekend. What it takes to win the championships are champions. It means that you are later coming home from work because that workout was completed. It means less sleep because you need an early morning run done before everything else in the day hits. To succeed in anything takes commitment and drive to find success. Few people just happen on success. Most people worked for it way more than most people ever dreamed of. One of my favorite quotes of all time is this: 'Don't desire someone's success or position until you know what it cost them to get to that point in their lives.

That guy in the ministry or church that they call 'pastor' who seemingly only has to get up a few times a week to speak? You forget about the 150 phone calls waiting on a return, or the 1000 emails and pieces of mail that are waiting. And the elders meeting tonight and budget meeting tomorrow, the family meeting he's been meaning to have, and the wife who hasn’t seen him because he's not been home all week. And the workouts that don’t just get done but take time, effort, and energy and the relationships he's been given to nurture. And that doesn’t include sermon prep or building a relationship with the Creator.

Or another example, the grocery store clerk that checked you out on your way home from work? Maybe you didn’t realize, but its getting late in the evening, and she's still working, and the mountain of laundry that she has to have finished before the day is over, or the workout that she has to finish before coming to work tomorrow. The missed calls she missed today, or the hour-long counseling session that happened on the phone last night. Or the text messages that haven’t been returned and the response 'well, its just a text message' becomes the typing of 100 messages in that workout that was supposed to be time that she just had to herself.

But that’s when the champion becomes a champion. When quitting isn’t an answer, and just a walk isn’t enough to constitute a workout. Being a champion will cost you something. And sometimes, its more than one ever thought possible. Everyone will want the glory on the stage in the middle of the field. But the ones who actually won the game know what it cost them. When not doing that workout sounded like the best option, or leaving that bathroom dirty and going to bed was something she could justify.

I fully believe that champions are two things:

1) They are developed in thinking. Being a champion is a series of mental, seemingly little-meaning decisions. It is just one more mailbox out running, one more set of reps in the gym, or just another hour while doing disaster relief. Its not skipping that one workout today, simply because one is 'just not feeling it today.' It’s going into work when hitting snooze just one more time feels okay.

2) Champions are developed, not harvested. One doesn’t happen to become a champion just because but because he or she decided in his or her mind to become one. Find a champion for a friend? Keep them around. More than that, find someone who encourages you to be a champion. That friend who doesn’t let you back out but rather pushes you to take the long way instead of the short cut home. The one who asks hard questions and doesn’t allow you to slack off. Because champions flock together and get stronger because they push each other to be better instead of slacking.

To be the best requires many things, but a champion is a person who will one day change the world, do the things he or she dreams of, and achieve the success that is sought. Will you be a champion today? Or will you find yourself a year from now wishing that you would have started today?

Book Review: The Final Summit

2011-04-17T08:12:00.000-05:00

In what one might consider typical Andy Andrew's writing, The Final Summit is much a dialogue and interaction of some of the greatest leaders from all of known history, most of whom anyone would be familiar with, and a few that are not household names, but with stories that had a major effect on modern history. This journey is one trying to answer the ultimate question of our day: how do we improve humanity. And the journey proposes many options that are seemingly good in their own right, but the ultimate answer lies in something bigger.

Andrews is a gifted writer with a gift that isn’t matched by a writer that I have had the chance to read in my lifetime. His ability to communicate the message through what captures the attention of your mind as a reader is phenomenal. While this particular book took a while to develop its thoughts and would find itself a bit wordy at times, it remains an interesting read and a well-developed book. The stories of how certain men and women changed the course of human history are inspiring, while the generalness of David Ponder has the reader somehow believing that it really is possible to be a part of the group of people that will one day change the course of human history. This is a book that I would recommend to leaders who desire to see a change in there generation. Change is possible, if, and only if, someone is willing to sacrifice for it and push oneself to find the desire in the
soul to go after change, instead of being simply okay with ordinary.

2011-03-18T01:38:00.000-05:00

Walking through what seems like a season that is seemingly surreal. Especially in those moments that things don’t seem like they really could be happening, or should be happening. Its those moments that the darkness seems overwhelming, and the end of the darkness doesn’t seem like will ever end. It’s a season of my life that I wish I could find the end of, but I am trying to appreciate the season that I am in, no matter that seasons light or darkness.

Sometimes, I think we have to walk through darkness to appreciate the light. I appreciate the good times now more because I have walked through a dark time, that honestly I haven’t walked through in a long while. Jesus, in this season, is amazing (not that he isn’t in the other ones, because he definitely is), and I’ve seen a closeness to God when the machines in ICU are beeping that isn’t there when everything seems good. Cries of desperation when doctors say that there is nothing else you can do what pray, or a worship song that plays exactly in the moment that machines tell you that your loved one needs hope. I have walked through darkness, and better appreciate the light because of it.

And to see the people who support you no matter what, even in your darkest hours, are one of the best blessings on this side of eternity I think. In the moments that I thought for sure that the darkness was the only thing that would shine through, a text would come from someone, whether they were close by or really far way, and it would literally make my day. In the moments that all hope seemed lost, Jesus would send someone my way to make it possible to make it through the moments that I did not know if I could pass through the next hours. Hope, that I found in friendship, was a beautiful gift.

This season isn’t over, for me or my family, but I know that we have journeyed through this part—we will survive the next part too. We have the infinite love of an everlasting God, along with the amazing gift of friendship. I am blessed, even when the darkness steps in. A quote that I have come to a deeper understanding of in the last weeks is this: “Everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle.” There are people that I met through the process, especially in the early days, were of great help. Sitting in the waiting room in ICU I met people who were fighting a very similar battle that my family was. I met many people who lost their family members, and being there to support them through the process was something that I will treasure. To be able to shine the light of Jesus to people who are in a very dark hour was a gift. I will forever treasure the fact that ICU wasn’t the end of anything for my family, but the beginning of a season that we are thankful for what we have. ICU can be a very dark place, or it can be a place that Jesus shines, and I am thankful that Jesus can shine.

Valentine's Day.. and all that seemingly goes with it.

2011-02-13T19:59:00.000-06:00

"Singleness doesn't have to be a curse...singleness can put you in an advantage position because your solely seeking Christ and trusting him with the rest."

One of my girls currently has this as her Facebook Status, and it honestly sums up a lot of where I am today with the ride of singleness, relationships, and everything that goes along with it. Over the last week, Valentine's Day has been around me, because I work in a store that sells flowers, and this is the biggest holiday that people buy flowers for.

And I no longer dread this holiday. For a long time, I dreaded the whole thing. But sometime this year, my feelings have changed. Being single is one of the greatest gifts that God can give to a person, and I am walking though the season where singleness feels sometimes like overwhelming darkness that I will never see myself out of. The whole being graduated from college, trying to figure out what it is that I am supposed to do for the rest of my life, and not having anyone in my life romantically is sometimes the biggest roller coaster of emotions that I can feel. But I treasure this season. I am blessed in this season in ways that when I am in a relationship I won't be able to treasure the way I am able to now.

This is a moment that when I am one day out of this season, there will be parts that I wish I could have back, but there are parts that I am looking forward to in the seasons to come. This isn't a season where I am just going to sit back and complain about what I can't/ don't have, but rather I will treasure this moment, because these are moments that will shape my life into my future marriage. How I act NOW will affect my future life and relationship, and I am learning as much as I can right now before I find out that I'm engaged, or something similar. I want to be the BEST wife that I can be, and I know that the more I learn now, the better I will be in the days to come.

I am thankful for holidays that remind me to give thanks for THIS moment, because 28 hours from now, I will be one Valentine's Day closer to meeting my husband, changing the world, and meeting my Jesus, and its for those few things that I find identity and purpose in life, and definately NOT in that order. The husband part, should it come, would just be an extra special gift on top of the call on my life and the destiny that I have to fulfill in this life!

I am blessed beyond measure, and for the rest of my life, I will remember that.

Kristyn

Save The Date

2011-01-31T09:54:00.000-06:00

You might be thinking, "Gah, Kristyn, Another book Review?"

Yep. Here is another one!

I just recently finished the book "Save The Date" By Jenny Jones.

Its the story of a successful non-profit manager who has her funding cut and needs a way to get the bills paid. Through a crazy turn of events, she finds herself trying to play God and make it so that "Saving Grace" can keep its doors open, by committing to acting as a couple with a former NFL star who is trying to secure a seat in politics. From his view, She's just what the world needs to see to make his approval ratings go over his opponent. This journey definately isn't the one she asks for, but might be just a tool to get her where God really wanted her to be.

After having the last few books I have read be ones that I thought better suited the recycling bin than the book shelf, I was glad to pick up a good book that I actually enjoyed reading, rather than just reading to read. This is a book that I seriously enjoyed for a few reasons: It was in a season of that I readily know how to identify with, it was a well written book, without being so out there in vocabulary that it was hard to understand, and nice, short chapters that make it easy to read when you know you only have a few minutes to read, and not all day. This is a book I could recommend to a friend, and I really enjoyed having a book that was not so serious as my last few; Sometimes you just need a book that you can pick up and enjoy rather than knowing how much you dread the book picking it up! Highly recommended!

To Count It ALL Joy

2011-01-30T18:39:00.000-06:00

To count the moments where all you can think about is the hurt you feel. Where all that is seemingly on your mind are things that cause you pain or frustrated. You’ve been hurt (and yes, its real, you have) and you find yourself so bitter and angry. This is my challenge to you: choose joy. Even in those moments where frustration is justified (say God has promised you the desires of your heart and today you sit and wait still. Trust me, I understand this feeling 200%).

But today will mark a change for me. Today, I will count it all joy when I face a trial. Or still wait for the very things God has promised me. I will trust that this season, like the rest that have come before it, are necessary for the growth that I will need when I arrive at the very destination I have been looking for, hoping for, and dreaming for. I need this season to be my very best in the next one, amidst trial that is seemingly meaningless to me for the moment I am currently living in.

This is the season whose lessons will make my tomorrow, whose dreams will become the realities of my life tomorrow such as:
1) Make the most of each moment (prime example, writing a blog and walking at the same time) because there will be moments that you wont want the need to write a blog post holding you back from fellowshipping with other believers)
2) Push yourself harder than you think you can go. Make goals that at the moment are seemingly impossible, because the chance is they become more possible once you start.
3) Serve the people around you as much as you possibly can. It’s an amazingly energizing gift when you give it to someone else instead of doing everything to benefit yourself. I promise you that it can literally change the course of your days (it did mine).
4) Trust that God, in his wisdom, holds the past, the present, and the future. He has your future husband waiting for you in the exact season that you will be ready to meet him and to become one with him, and to fulfill the very destiny that God has for you on this journey called life.

I fully believe that a relationship that puts God first, even in your years of singleness, could single handedly change the course of the world and make Jesus famous throughout this would. And a group of couples who decidedly put Jesus first, instead of their own, God given, desires, and I would be hard pressed to tell you that they wouldn’t change the world. I want nothing more than to make my mark on this generation, and I want more than anything in this world to see my generation turn back to the God who loves us without fault or condition anymore.

Will you help me change my generation? And in turn, my world?

Kristyn

I dont have but just a second..

2011-01-29T15:52:00.000-06:00

because I want to actually live my life and Jesus blog about it.

But.. for the tidbit of info I wanted to pass on..

Jesus is doing something big.
Really Big.
Like all I've ever dreamed of big, and I cannot wait to get to share it with you!

Remember he's at work, even when the ocean waters seem calm!

Kristyn

Honoring the season..

2011-01-28T20:02:00.000-06:00

As I read the title of this blog, I think sometimes it could be better suited to Christmas and the Holiday season, but I am reminded that each season of a year, and ultimately our lives, are meaningful for different reasons. I see all over Facebook at the moment about how we can't wait for summer, but I was hit with another reality today.

The season that I am currently living in (in regards to work, friends, relationships, etc) is one that I have to be thankful for. As much as I can't wait for summer, coming from a girl shivering while covered in blankets on the couch at the moment, I want to be thankful for this moment. For the moments where its cold outside and I want to lay out poolside so bad, I want to be thankful for the winter, because it makes me so much more thankful for summer when it actually comes. And I think the same idea could be passed to the rest of my life.

Are there parts of my life that I wish could be different today? Yep. But am I enjoying this season, despite my longings for things to change. Why? Because tomorrow there will be things about this season that I wish didn't have to change, and things that I learn in the days and weeks to come that helped me change. This journey called life is an incredible gift. The moments that make your days will change your life, and these are moments that you will look back and be thankful for, even in the absolutely roughest season you or I ever walk through.

I am beginning to see parts of where the next season of my life will take me; honestly, there are parts of it that sometimes scare me. Parts of it scare me because its new, its radically dependent on the spirit of God, but its those moments I remind myself that He has never failed me to this point; who I am to believe that he would fail me now? And like the bridge of one of my absolutely favorite songs right now says "If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand against us?" My God will provide me the grace I need not only in the season I am living in right now, but the season and days and months and years to come.

I want to enjoy this season; my whole world is changing because I finally began to see this season of singleness as one of the most beautiful gifts I have, and will one day be able to give to my future mate. I've been able to stop looking at the parts of the season I dislike so much, and seeing the parts that are a gift. (Nap on the couch on a Friday night? Yes Please.) This life is an incredible journey with gifts that are opened on the way. But before I get bitter because I open a gift I seemingly don't want, I am going to give thanks for that gift because it will prepare me for my future days.

I am incredibly blessed. I think I write that on my blog every single time, but I am, and I give thanks to God for it!

Kristyn

To have someone

2011-01-27T11:39:00.000-06:00

who will speak the truth, even when it hurts, even when it costs them something, is without a doubt in my mind one of the most priceless gifts that the world could ever give to you.

I have girls who are in my life who are willing to tell me what I don't what to hear. I ask them questions that I cringe to ask, but I need truth. I need people who are willing to tell me, even when it hurts. And there is a depth to that relationship that most people in the world will never begin to understand. Why? Because they are willing to speak a truth in my life that I often need to hear. Perspective is one of the greatest gifts that friendship brings to your life.

I am incredibly blessed by the girls that I call my best friends.
This is an incredible journey.

Just some thoughts

2011-01-12T21:49:00.000-06:00

I think I miss my future husband more than usual today, simply because on this journey called relationships is confusing and I wish I could find more peace through the whole thing. I know for a fact his is coming, but I wish sometimes he could just be here, instead of waiting for him. Not that I want to rush God or the timing, but there are certain times that I wonder when He'll actually show up. I am incredibly blessed. I realize that more than I wallow in pity that I am still single and waiting on God.

But God has the very best person for me out there, but only in his time and not in my own, as hard as that is to understand. I know he will be incredible, and I find myself wondering of the moments we will spend together. But I also know that one day most of the guys I spend my time with will one day be someone else's husband, and I will one day be the wife of one man.

I saw this thought today, and with that in mind, this is the idea: Will I do something with a "single" guy that I would not do for a married man, because I am dealing with someone's husband when I do it? That challenged me, especially on a physical issue when I do get in a dating relationship. I just do not think that going just about anywhere physically with someone I do not intend to date is right, and I think that the challenge of that will definately come when the time comes, but there is a line that finds itself quite blurry in dating, and sometimes I think even more so in a dating relationship when people who are involved in ministry come into question.

I want to find and hold myself to a standard, admittedly one that might be too much for some people, that will honor God, my future spouse, and the future spouse of the guy in question, be the me or someone else. I want so bad to honor God in the process of dating, courtship, and marriage, but the lines are fuzzy, so I decided to do some of my own instead. To find myself might seem extreme to some, or to everyone, but I think that there is someone out there that will appreciate it in the years and months to come, and that someone is my husband!

Thoughts Anyone?

Kristyn

I need to..

2011-01-09T18:39:00.000-06:00

sit here and write and make a blog. For some reason, my writing has been hard lately. Forced, almost, and I know I am not as good when I am forcing myself to write rather than having something hit me in between the eyes that says, "Oh, that would be a really great blog." But lately that motivation has been pretty much non-existent , but I'm trying to fight it.

This is where I've been lately:

"It gets lonely at the top; when you get there, you have to know the reason that you are there."

You have to remember why you are called into leadership, for the days that are lonely. You have to remember to call you have, the destiny you are walking in, and its one of those things that is so hard to explain unless you've lived there.

But I want to leave a mark. It gets me through the lonely days. It gets me through the mundane. It is the reason I get up in the morning, and the reason I go to bed at night with a fire in my bones. It gives me the drive to do something every single day, because I want leave a mark for my Jesus in my generation.

And I think other people do too. Listen to this song: I Was Here

I just desperately want to do something in my generation. My pastor asked us today to put something that we were believing God for in 2011. As much as I wanted to put that my husband was going to show up, I put that I am believing for revival in my generation in 2011. (And that someday, my husband will magically walk into my life and sweep me off my feet, but I have to be faithful to believe God first. But I could live the rest of my life without my husband, but I definately could not live if I never got to experience revival.) Mark my words that 2011 will be marked by revival in this generation, and the whole world will begin to experience what God wants to do not only in us, but through us.

As you know if you hang out with me on a semi-regular basis, or if you have Facebook Stalked me in the last few weeks, I'm loving this song too: For Those Who Wait. But I promise you that God will deliver on his promise if I am faithful with the life that I have been given. I constantly remind myself, "Kristyn, God didn't give you desires to torture you, but to deliver to you the very best that he has in this life." He wants not only just something to fulfill you, but for you to be absolutely the best the you can be for Him in this life.

Your waiting will be worth it, and I truly believe that with all my heart. I pray that is just a little bit of encouragement to you on this snowy, Alabama night.

In Him,
Kristyn

Voices of the Faithful: Book 2

2011-01-05T18:30:00.000-06:00

Voices of the Faithful-- Book 2: Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians serving around the World.
Compiler: Kim P. Davis
Series Creator: Beth Moore

Set up in a yearly devotional format, the "many authors" of this book talk of their struggles on the mission field, their stories of the hope of the changing world for the advancement of the gospel, and the hope that is the gospel of Jesus. The months are broken into "prayer focuses" and that seems to help draw the stories together into different thoughts that follow day after day.

This was another book that I wanted to love and just couldn't because it was so basic in its writing. As much as I love books that are mindless and easy to read, I would prefer that my devotional would challenge me more than this book did. If you are looking for a feel good book to read everyday in the morning, this could easily be your book. If you tend to want a little more depth to your morning devotion, I would pass on this book and find something different. It was very easy to read, with language that was easy to understand on a relatively easy level, and that was a nice change from some of the devotionals I've read in the past few years. Overall, the message of the book was a great one, but the execution of it was not absolutely the best it could be.

In Him,
Kristyn.

Camp Skyline Ranch for Girls 2010

2011-01-02T14:05:00.000-06:00

Today I'm cheating. I'm taking something I wrote (as in hand wrote) previously and using it. I'm not feeling creative number one, and I found this and want to have it to look back on later, but not have to keep the paper. I'm currently on a cleaning/ organizing binge. It feels good.

What I learned at Camp Skyline Ranch For Girls in Summer 2010
1. God intentionally brings people into your life. You have people in your life not only because not only do you need them, but they need you. Never forget that.
2. Making your bed and cleaning up in the morning can really make your day better. Sometimes a little bit of order in a day full of chaos really can make a difference.
3. Your circumstances do not matter nearly as much as your attitude. A good attitude improves every situation.
4. You might live your life (or a season of your life) to impact one person. That matters. And our attitude about impacting that one person matters.
5. A braid is always an acceptable hairstyle. Yes-- Always.
6. Putting yourself our on a limb pays off in the end. The Coach Carter quote rings so true, with people of any age. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our dark that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you.We are all meant to shine as children do. Its not just in some of us; its in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsiously give other people to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
7. A Chaco tan is an often source of pride-- your tan lines are always a way of telling your stories.
8. Do not be afraid to communicate how you feel, even to your boss or superior. You are going to be better off in the long run; you make a better worker if you communicate what you need and express what you are feeling instead of keeping it inside.
9. Never forget the power of friendship. There are the people that you were given, to do and live your life with. The power of a smile, a kind word, a hug, or encouraging words. All have the power to transform a life and make someone's day.
10. Your story makes you. Your experiences shape your story, and who you have become. Bear your scars as battle wounds-- God gets the glory as our lives demonstrate his faithfulness and or desperateness for him and his actions in our lives. We only exist because he has spoken it into being. Don't be afraid to tell your story. It is what it is because God Himself will get the credit in the end.
11. Never forget the stories of the rocks, pebbles, sand and water. In other words, let the main things remain the main things, and the water of life to fill in when it can. If the water doesn't fit, the main things will still always remain there.
12. Never neglect worship. Worship has to be the veil of our lives, We have to give God the due credit and worship for what he is worth and his glory. He is worthy of all of our worship, not just a part of it.
13. You can do anything with God's strength, even the "I know I will never be able to do this" thing. You can push yourself harder than you ever thought possible. Your body can go harder; you can really only sleep two hours; you can get past anything. The only condition to that thing is this: you have to have the power of God within you. Its the only thing that will hold you back from doing anything.

A co-counselor gave us these this summer, and I have kept it because of how much is means to me, so I am going to share it with you.
"At this moment, someone is very proud of you. Someone is thinking of you. Someone trusts you. Someone is caring about you. Someone wants to talk to you. Someone hopes everything there is great. Someone wants you to be happy. Someone wants to hug you. Someone thinks that you are a gift. Someone admires your strength and ability. Someone is thinking of you and smiling. Someone can't wait to see you. Someone loves you just the way you are. Someone treasures your spirit. Someone needs your encouragement. Someone is glad that you are their friends. Someone wants to share their dreams with you. Someone needs your support. Someone is praying for you and LOVES you so." -Source Unknown

Have a great day!
Kristyn

To find the words..

2010-12-22T10:47:00.000-06:00

to sum up the season.
to accurately explain advent.
to tell you how thankful I am to have family this season.
to get you excited for The Basement coming up next week.
to tell you how much I love this time of the year.
to tell you how I cope with OCD at this time.
to tell my future husband that I'm praying for him.
to let you know how thankful I am that Jesus doesn't give up on me.

I'd have a pretty daggum interesting blog.

and that would take me a while, and I have a lot to do. Hopefully in the next few days I can at least do a few of them!

Have a GREAT day!
Kristyn

Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World

2010-12-22T10:26:00.000-06:00

Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World by Dr. David Jeremiah

In this book, Dr. David Jeremiah gives ways to make life more peaceful as we look toward the end times, filled with scriptural references and biblical reasoning, helping us search for hope in the moments that we are facing in the world today.

As much as I would love to give this a good review, I was not impressed by this book, as it shows how long it took me to get through. Dr. Jeremiah is dry for me, as much as I love the message of what he was trying to portray. This message is good-- how the book was actually written was seemingly not the best that it could have been. I think part of the reason would be my age and place in life, but I can see the reasons that someone else would really enjoy it. After I finished it, I gave it to my mom and she actually really enjoyed the book. I hope that helps with your decision!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com http://BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

On Courage...

2010-12-13T10:10:00.000-06:00

Be strong now because things will get better. It might be stormy now but it cant rain forever.

The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don't live at all.

Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, “Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.”

There is no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bear witness that a man has the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.

Courage is not living without fear.
Courage is being scared to death and doing the right thing anyway.

Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to
your friends.

Hope you enjoyed these today! I sure did!
Kristyn

I don't know

2010-11-21T21:56:00.000-06:00

why I go through seasons where I want to write everyday, and others when my inspiration seems 100% gone. As you can probably tell, I'm in the 'non-inspired' season. I wish I knew why, or what to do to fix it. So, this might be the most boring blog ever, but I think just writing is always a positive thing.

This is an idea that's been in my head a lot lately, and it was brought to my attention this afternoon too, so I think I'm going to write about it.

"My father had a simple test that helps me measure my own leadership quotient: When you are out of the office he once asked me, does you staff carry on remarkable well without you?"

Martha Peak, Group Editor, AMA Magazines, Management Review, October 1992

Said another way, a mark of a leader, is someone who could not be there to lead and the job would still get done. When that happens, your developing other leaders to lead others. And that will change a persons' life, no matter what arena it is that you lead in.

The question I ask myself isn't "Kristyn, are you a leader?" The question I ask myself is not often enough is "Am I developing the people around me enough that I don't have to be here to lead them?"

Thoughts?

Kristyn

Day Four- A Month Later

2010-11-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

So this "plan to not fail at blogging" hasn't worked all that well, but life happens.

I've thought all day, "I need to blog" but have been completely uninspired.

So today is Day 04 -- What you ate today, in great detail

And today is absolutely the worst day to ask that because I've been home all day and honestly have no idea. So, I'll leave you with some more quotes:

"The Essence of Leadership: A true leader has the confidence to stand alone; the courage to make tough decisions; and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent, In the end ; are much like Eagles . . . They don't flock, you will find them one at a time."

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"What you do in life echoes in eternity."

"Live like tomorrow isn't ever coming."

"A light that reaches far shines brightest at home."

"She always makes others around her smile."

"You don't take yourself too seriously, but you take your ministry seriously and you take your purpose like its all you will ever have."

"Be the kind of girl that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, Oh, junk. She's out of the bed again!"

"The dirt in Africa is red because it is soaked with their blood, and they can never leave the country because Africa runs through their veins".

"To each there comes a time in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to their own talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."

"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."

"Love is my decision to make your problem my concern."

"Be sure that when its time for you to die, that is all you have to do."

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

"Don't tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is."

"Why me? Because you saw me when I was invisible."

Just a few thoughts for this week!
Kristyn

To see HIM.

2010-10-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

So I’m sitting on the airplane, flying home, and procrastinating on some paperwork that I need to get done, with the excuse that without my phone its really hard to do the work. So I thought instead I would update the blog, and get you up to date on what happened this past week, and what’s coming up in the next few.

This past week:

1. I was able to spend the long weekend with my family, and that was an incredible five day

2. I got glasses. It’s a novel concept to be able to actually see the road signs from far away. I definitely didn’t realize how much I couldn’t see until I was able to see it again. And I’m growing used to them on my face all the time slowly but surely. I had glasses as a kid, but not even in my teenage years, so this is a new concept to me. Any tips for keeping them clean? They get so dirty, so fast.

The weeks to come:

1. Christmas is coming FAST! I realized the other day that I really need to get started on the shopping and preparing for the holidays. Its without a doubt, minus the cold, my favorite time of year.

2. The Basement “Trick or Treat” is coming up next week. I’m getting excited about having it coming because its going to be a great service. And we have Unashamed: Birmingham tomorrow, as week do each Tuesday that we don’t have the Basement, and that is always exciting and a joy to watch people encounter Jesus for the first time. We are meeting all kinds of incredible people each week, and I cannot believe that I get to be a part!

3. Work is going well—it seems to get easier most every day because it becomes more of a routine. I really enjoy what I get to do. I think so often—I can’t believe I get the chance to live the life I do, to do life with the most incredible people on the planet and be apart of a modern movement in my generation.

4. Each day is always exciting and having something new going on, and I’m loving the season of life that I have the chance to be in. I’m blown away that there is a chance for me to do this.

And Jesus is amazing. He will change your world if you would let him do that.

Have a great Monday!

Kristyn

So I was going to write..

2010-10-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

but sometimes other people can say it better. Here goes:

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." - William Shakespeare

"The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious." - Oswald Spengler

"We must love our fellows, without expecting friendship from them; they leave us and return, they go and come; let them do as they will; it is but a feather, the sport of the wind. See God only in them; it is He that afflicts or consoles us, by means of them, according as we have need." - Fenelon

"God...doesn't intend to help us live the Christian life. Immaturity considers the Lord Jesus a Helper. Maturity knows Him to be life itself." - Miles J. Stanford

"It is possible for us to live in the very sense of the Lord's presence, under even the most difficult circumstances. If you and I are going to enjoy the peace of paradise during this life we must become accustomed to a familiar, humble, and very affectionate conversation with the Lord Jesus." - Brother Lawrence

"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go, if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." - Ronald Reagan

"Community is not built on convenience...but on the conviction that I need it for spiritual health. If you want to cultivate real fellowship, it will mean meeting together even when you don't feel like it, because you believe it is important." - Rick Warren

"You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you everywhere, if only out of curiosity." - Colin Powell

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes." - Benjamin Disraeli

"When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever." – John Piper

"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn't feel like it." - Alfred Alistair Cooke

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." - Ann Landers

Thought you might enjoy these.

Have the best night ever!

Kristyn

"Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible." - Unknown

Day 3.

2010-10-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

Day 03 -- Your parents, in great detail

My dad is my hero and one of my best friends. We've been close since I was a little kid, and even more so now even though I live a really long way from home. He's the best dad a girl could as for, and an amazing Pop-Pop to one little girl who considers her Pop-Pop her whole world. He likes to work-- big wonder where that comes from then, and he really likes baseball. And really besides his family, that's all he likes to do, which I'm totally okay with. And he doesn't take pictures, and I haven't seen him since DECEMBER, so we don't have a picture together. But we are going to change this, (so you're reading this papa-- now you know the plan, haha).

My mom is awesome. She works a lot too. She likes to go to church activities and such, and she keeps up the house. Other than that-- She's just awesome. We (as in me, her, Amy, Wendy, and Lil) went to Myrtle Beach this summer, and we had an abosolute blast. I got Mom to myself for a few days before the other girls came, and that was awesome because we don't get a lot of time together. I've learned to treasure the time I get to spend with her-- I'm PUMPED about this weekend with the whole fam!
So that's number three! =))

Have a great week!
Kristyn

Its late..

2010-10-08T23:58:00.000-05:00

And I'm about to open a veil to myself that I don't let most people see. I know for an absolute fact one person knows all of this-- I am privileged to call her my best friend. I almost think when God made her, He said "And this one, this one I'm going to make for Kristyn. She's going to need her." And I do, on a daily basis. God gave me a best friend who loves me even when I make mistakes, and she loves me just for me.

I feel like people think that I'm stuck up or that I don't want to be some one's friend for whatever reason that person decides that I gave to them. I've thought a lot about what people think of me, and will tell you that often get that comment when I as someone, "If I weren't listening, what would you tell me my greatest flaw is?" And often, especially if you just know me on a casual basis, I would come across that way. And that's what I want to blog on.

This isn't an easy subject for me-- its not something everyone just wants to blog about all the time. To be perfectly honest, I don't know exactly why I am, but I feel like I should. The way I interact with people comes back to when I was in my growing up years. I was very hurt as a child, in ways that I don't feel comfortable posting on the Internet for the world to see. I've been hurt, and that means two things:

1) I keep people away because a lot of what I've known in the last few years is people hurt you, and people who seem like they care truly don't care at all. I know that the vast majority of people are not this way, but what I've done as a coping mechanism is to just not let people close. I don't really let people into my walls, and the people I do are few. I've been hurt in this regard so many times.

My personality is almost always a forget-it type of mentality. If we get in an argument, I truly don't remember soon after. Often all it takes is some sleep for me to forget why we fought. That's why I want to address issues as soon as they happen and what I've seen so often in the Christian world is that people don't address issues, they ignore them. The only time something bothers me for days is something that I know that I need to address with that person. So-- if you have a problem with me, come to me because I'm not often aware that its an issue. The problem is that I have been hurt deeply, by people that were "supposed" to love me. I forget what happened in order to deal with the pain, but I'm not going to lie and say its all going to be okay. I'll tell you that often to your face, but it hurts, it really does, when someone else does something that I don't agree with. I can often see your side of the argument if your willing to talk about it, but if you ignore the situation, I often will too.

2) I don't always know how to act around people, especially in relationships that I don't fully understand. I try to wrap my mind around everything around me, all the time. I don't know what people expect of me, and I love when I actually know what people expect of me and how to deal with the situation. When I'm sitting in a room, my brain is going 3000 miles an hour. I might seem a bit random to some; this is the reason: my brain is always moving, working, thinking. I over think everything. I expect the worst all the time, ie when the phone rings I always brace myself that something is totally wrong with whoever is on the other side of the phone. And I am always critical of myself, almost overly so. I know that I demand more of myself that I do of anyone I know (and get around the girls that work with me and they'll tell you I ask them to work hard, all the time.) I don't like to give myself a break or show weakness, and I don't like to not know whats going on. But I'm learning to live with life in that way.

Also, this might sound really silly, but I am an introvert that can easily take on the appearance of an extrovert. I need alone time a lot more than my personality lets on. Sometimes, I'll literally sit in my room, with the door closed, and just sit and exist. I think it flows from the idea that my brain works all the time-- alone time gives me time to process and understand the things going on in my life without adding information to my already busy brain. I just process. Sometimes, especially after a long day/week/month, I go into an environment already overstressed because I just didn't get enough quiet. Or I just have had a lot to process so its hard to add to the things going on around me that are currently happening.

And that's truly a view behind the veil. That's what I think about and try to understand about myself and about others. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve-- I want to be the best I can be and I would love to hear your comments about how I can do that, or just what you think, or if you just want to say "Hi" I'm not opposed!

In Him,
Kristyn

So I don't know what to write..

2010-10-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

And thought, "Oh, I'll just go and get #2 from get to know me" because I've failed at actually blogging lately. Its been an interesting week, and I've had a lot on my mind.

Then I realize what #2 is : "Day 02 -- Your first love, in great detail"

My first love and only love is Jesus.

So about Jesus:
I'm madly in love with the great romancer. He's the greatest guy a girl could ever have around, and he loves me even when I'm not so great at loving him. He doesn't get mad and not talk to me for a while, and I never get his voicemail. He never makes me wait to spend time with him, and he has the ability to show up exactly at the right time. He goes before me and prepares the way for things that are coming in my future. Its amazing to be loved by Jesus. He loves you too, but I think I'm his favorite. (I kid. We are all his favorites. & I've come to the conclusion that his fridge is huge because of all the pictures on it.)

Any boy that wants to come into my life must meet the approval of this Jesus (and a whole score of others, honestly.) because this is the man who I love more than life itself, and without him, I don't know if I have the ability to go on.

Til We Meet Again,

Kristyn

I'm not waiting...

2010-09-24T10:07:00.001-05:00

for some magical moment for my life to start. My life, this journey, has already begun. And I'm not waiting for a magical moment to do the things that I want to do.

This topic is random, but its been laid on my heart. I thought I would struggle more with things to blog about; its amazing to me that each time I think, 'Oh, I need to blog' there is usually a topic that fits for the blog. Ask me that in 6 months. haha.

We each have a different idea of when we "grow up". To be honest with you, I don't know what I consider grown up. All I know is right now, I really don't consider myself "grown up" but I think I will with time. That idea, however, doesn't hold me back to do the things that I want to do. Traveling by myself? Sure. Going to dinner? Of Course. Buying a new car? Not anytime soon, but sure. There really isn't anything that I'm "waiting" to do because there is some milestone that I haven't reached yet.

Why? Because I survived THIS: (I should have been off the edge and plummeted to my death.)

This should have cracked my head into two different pieces.
And I never should have had the opportunity to walk away from this.
And seen the light of day after this.
But God decided to write a different story. Not one of a parent who lost their daughter to a car wreck, and a family who would have never seen their daughter alive. Not one in that a husband who never met his soul mate because she lost her life or a college family who had to deal with a loss of a classmate in the middle of a semester. A roommate who I would have never actually had the chance to be one of my best friends:

Or most importantly, a destiny of an ordinary human who has had the chance in the last three years to be a part of this:
And see 1000s of people see Jesus, and encounter Jesus in a way that I hadn't before I almost lost my life. October 27, 2007 changed my life, but almost three years later, without a doubt for the better.

God is good.

Introduce Yourself

2010-09-21T16:35:00.000-05:00

Day 1-- Introduce Yourself.

I think this will be quick.

My name is Kristyn.
I'm from North Carolina, grew up in Maryland, and currently make my residence in Alabama. How's that for a complicated answer?
I'm 22.
I love Jesus will all my heart.
I serve with a ministry called The Basement.
I love my big family.
I am blessed beyond measure.
I shouldn't be alive.
I struggled with suicide and major depression until I met Jesus.
I should never succeed; the solution to that? I met a man named Jesus.
Basically, my life doesn't make sense without him. It answers most of the questions you might ask.
I have been given the chance to live an incredible life.
I'm single-- not really pursuing anything because I know the next few years are key to me fulfilling my destiny.
My destiny blows my mind.
Why God would use me absolutely blows my mind.
I can't wait to see what GOD is going to do with my generation; I believed we are called to lead the greatest revival in modern history, and the world isn't going to understand what hit them!

I think that about covers it!

Kristyn

My plan to not fail at blogging.

2010-09-20T16:03:00.001-05:00

This is my plan for the next 60 days (60 because I know I'll forget one day so it won't take just 30, haha) so I don't come up with the random topics, and thus make it super boring for you.

30 Great Details

Day 01 -- Introduce yourself
Day 02 -- Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 -- Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 -- What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 -- Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 -- Your day, in 'great detail
Day 07 -- Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

I look forward to it..
Love,
Kristyn

This week flew by.

2010-09-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

So I was supposed to post on Tuesday. And I sort of blinked my eyes and its Friday.

I'm going to copy my friend Trina and do Friday Fragments. Its been a really a good week, but a full one, so this is probably the best way to catch you up on whats going on.

Unashamed: University of Alabama last night was amazing. God showed up through Boyd, and the team did amazing. I love literally standing in the middle of the awakening.
I started working again this week. God's faithfulness blows my mind, and I'm a walking testimony to that.
Unashamed:Bham (also known as Unashamed:the Movement) started last week, and life is SO cool right now because of what God is doing. You need to come this week and check it out.
I've been able to hang with Katelyn Carter a lot lately, and I LOVE IT. She's amazing, just so you know, too.
I actually ran this week, which is probably the reason I haven't blogged like I said I would. I'm probably going to go this afternoon too, but that's yet to actually happen. I wanted to update all 3 of you on the goings on in my life.
I've been quite far away from social media this week, especially twitter. Not 100% sure why, but I have.
And I really don't have much else to say today, which is surprising. =)
I hope you have a great week until we meet again.

Kristyn

Quick Post

2010-09-13T22:34:00.001-05:00

I just changed my blog a bit.
PS. Facebook peeps-- you can see the changes here
Hope you enjoy the changes.

Im not sure I love the picture, but I've changed it a bunch. =/ hopefully I can find a super picture to put there soon. I do like the colors on this though.

Kristyn

P.S. I have a post in the works for tomorrow that I'm gunna post. Don't miss it!

20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Sunday

2010-09-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

So I'm starting a new "blog tradition" if you will. This text is from here and I'm going to try to answer them each week, mostly for myself to see the growth, but also so that you can get a view into my life.

20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Sunday

At the cusp of new beginnings many of us take time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self reflection helps maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our dreams, goals and desires.

If you would like to maximize the benefits of self reflection, I have 20 questions for you. These questions should be reviewed every Sunday morning or sometime during the weekend when you have some quiet time to think. Remember, reflection is the key to progression.

What did I learn last week? – That God is faithful, even when all hope seems lost. That I can do more than I think I can. That my room gets REALLY dirty if I don't keep up with it. (I'm headed to clean once I get this done.)
What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week? – Starting a new job. Helping to launch a new college ministry. Another successful week at Unashamed Ttown.
Which moment from last week was the most memorable and why? – Unashamed Bham-- what a launch. And getting wrecked at Unashamed Ttown.
What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this week? – Successfully learn my new job. My girls being good to help keep Unashamed Bham going without me there.
What can I do right now to make the week less stressful? – Laundry, cleaning, relaxing. Maybe figuring out some blog topics.
What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week? Lack of control because I'm not at a service. Not running because of a crazy schedule. That's gotta change.
What was last week’s biggest time sink? – Without a doubt, the computer.
Am I carrying any excess baggage into the week that can be dropped? –I don't think so.
What have I been avoiding that needs to get done? Dragging the vacuum upstairs and getting all of the vacuuming in my hallway done. Finishing the cross-stitch I started.
What opportunities are still on the table? I don't so.
Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to? I don't think so.
Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘Thank You’? –The people whose house I went to last night (and last week) for the Bama game. Gunna write a thank you note I think.
How can I help someone else this coming week? – Not that I can def think of, but I'm gunna think on that one.
What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 years? 1. Do my part to advance the gospel as far as possible. 2. Lead my family to Jesus. 3. Constantly be my best and give everything I have, every day.
Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals? Yes.
What’s the next step for each goal? 1. Get Unashamed:Bham as organized as I am allowed. 2. Send $ for Lilly's Bday present. 3. Improve my overall attitude.
What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week? – Unashamed: Ttown;
What are my fears? – Being single the rest of my life. Not making a mark on my generation.
What am I most grateful for? Family, Ministry, Work, Friends. Jesus is incredible.
If I knew I only had one week to live, who would I spend my time with? – Family. Ministry. Honestly, I think I would live absolutely the same life as I am right now.

Just a pee

Downtime- What I Do Offline to Recharge

2010-09-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

Downtime- What I Do Offline to Recharge

I wasn't totally sure what to blog about today, and in a goal to blog every day or every other day, even if its just a few paragraphs, I decided that this topic would be one that seems pretty interesting to me.

If you spend a lot of time with me in real life, you know that I am one of those people who can go-go-go all day long. The part that people don't often get to see is the side of me that recharges. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I have to recharge. I'm an introvert at heart; being alone is an essential part of my day, and this is what I consider "recharging".

I am a reader, a crafter, and an overanalyzer.
Reader: I read a lot of books. I love to read and often have more than one started at a time, and if I get a few minutes, you'll find me curled up in the bed reading whatever book I decided that I was going to read that time. I think reading encourages growth for us as humans; I think everyone should at least read something every day.
Crafter: I can't say that I'm a good crafter, but I do actually like to craft quite a bit. I've been working on a small cross stitch, lately. But I being crafty makes me relax, and having something to show for it is always a good thing. One of my goals is to make a quilt for when I get married. That's probably a pretty random goal, but I want to do it!
Overanalyzer: I think about everything, and often find myself doing that when I have downtime. That might be random too, but I try to live in the moment as much as I can during the day, so when I get home at night, I try to process everything!

Sorry for the random blog, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Now I want to know...
What do you do to recharge?

Kristyn

I think the pictures say more than I can..

2010-09-08T22:03:00.000-05:00

The Basement

Unashamed Birmingham

Unashamed Tuscaloosa

This photo Katelyn Carter made =)

We will shake our city. God is moving. This is the movement.

I'm FIRED UP and cannot wait to see God do what only he can do!

Dr. Gary Greene

2010-08-31T11:49:00.001-05:00

I wish and hope that you had the opportunity to meet Dr. Gary Greene. As I look at my Facebook news feed, I have seen probably about 100 people who wrote of what this professor meant to them. In a small college that has been small since the beginning of its existence, it speaks a lot to the outstanding character of a man, friend, father, and mentor that Dr. Greene was to so many students. As a transfer student, I never took English at SEBC, but looking back, there isn’t many people I would say that influenced me like dr. Greene. I moved to SEBC, knowing no one, and he knew my name that first day that I was there. That is one little thing that spoke to the strength of his character. Dr. Greene gave everyone he encountered his time, and I know that I am not the only one who spells love like that. I could go and ask him anything, and he would take the time to explain it. He loved people and he is remembered for the mark that he made, not only in English class, but also in life. I’ve cried and tried to tell heaven that it wasn’t his time, but heaven is truly a better place because he went.

In his passing, I am reminded of the fact that the time I spend with everyone is valuable. I am a task-oriented person; to-do lists are my friend. But, I am reminded that so many people just want your time; they don’t truly want anything else. Dr. Greene made that a reality for many; he realized that it mattered if you spent time with people. It matters that you put aside the tasks in front of you, and told someone that they matter. It’s just like our relationships with the Lord; he wants our time. Yes, we have to serve him, but we need to just spend time with him. He loves it! And the wretchedness of my sin makes me think sometimes that God doesn’t want my time; the reality that Dr. Greene reminded me often is that it isn’t about what I can do, he just wants me.

I am honored that I had the chance to know this man. He changed my life, and I know that I am not the only one he influenced (and that’s without a doubt a huge understatement). I am blessed to have him along this journey that I call life and to reunite with him on the other side of eternity.

Kristyn

Wild at Heart: Revised and Expanded

2010-08-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

Lost purpose seems to be Mr. Eldregde’s main idea in his book Wild at Heart, Revised and Expanded Edition. The idea that we as the church have manufactured males to fit in a box that God did not originally intend to have them fit in. Men are meant to be wild and adventurous. The journey begins with a single step, but a journey that men will take through the rest of their lives. This book helps to begin the journey for men, as well as women to understand where men are coming from while they are on the journey to this point.

Wild at Heart, has challenged me to think in a different way. As a female in an industry that is without a doubt a male dominated one, I find myself thinking in a different way when I see men who are not fulfilling the potential that they could. Wild at Heart made me think in a way that I wouldn’t have before I read this book, although there were a few parts that took what felt like forever to get through. At times, I wonder what the expanded edition has that the other edition does not, but having never had the change to take the time to read it. I have enjoyed this book, and would recommend it not only to men who want to find God’s purpose for men as a whole, but also to women who work and/or live with men on a very regular basis. I think both versions will communicate the same message, however, and give insight without too many extra words.

Enjoy and happy reading!

Kristyn

...my.amazing.friends...

2010-07-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

I’ve been able to spend the last few days with my team, with the people that I do life with. I love the quality time that I get to spend with them; they are really the fulfillment of Proverbs: As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. These people really fulfill everything that fellowship is supposed to do; we literally do life together and really pursue God in the process. I am blessed to call these people my friends; it would literally take me hours to tag or tell you of all of the people that I am honored to call true friends in this life. I’ve heard from many people to have one true friend in this life is amazing, and some people never find a friend like that in this life. I am honored to say that I have been blessed with a true group of best friends to walk through life with. My life without them would definitely not be anything like it is today.

The more time I spend with these people I realize that there are a few (well, actually I’m wordy so probably more than a few) qualities that run constantly through the people I call my friends. I realized this week that I find myself around people who are so similar at times, yet they are so different than the others. It amazes me to see God form and mold and shape people into his likeness.

Some of the overarching qualities:
1. Passion: These are the most passionate people I have ever had the chance to know. Passion shows itself in so many ways, a lot of which will be outlined more. They just have a desire to do this life so well. Passion is hard to describe or explain; spend a few minutes with us, especially with a sound system and a computer. Give us worship and you’ll begin to see our passion.
2. The Lost- These people want to introduce people to Jesus, as simple as that. They exist to bring people to the freedom and redemption of Christ. I wish I could explain to you all they do for the advancement of the gospel. They don’t sleep; they travel; they give up time at work; they are willing to give their very lives for the gospel. I’ve watched them share the gospel one-on-one; I’ve watched them share the gospel with many. I’ve watched them share the gospel with they don’t have anything left to give; I’ve watched their desire to advance the gospel to go beyond their circumstances and how they feel. They truly want to see the lost brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
3. Each Other- This is the most passionate group of people I know about serving and loving each other. I cannot think of a time that I spend time with them and I didn’t walk away refreshed and renewed. They passionately love each other, and it means the world to be a part of them. I consistently see them serve not just outside of our team, but also within it. I’ve don’t know how to explain what it feels like if one of your best friends calls just to tell you that you are loved, or communicate that through the way we each receive love, which is actually different for each of us.
4. Serving Others- I have personally had the experience to watch these people in just about every aspect of their lives, and they are constantly serving others. In their lives, they live to make other people feel better. I love to watch them serve; they come alive when they do so. It blows my mind how well they serve.
5. Excellence- This was the last quality that I wrote; I cannot express to you what it means to watch excellent people to do things better than is required. It isn’t enough to them to show up; they have to be the best that they can be. They are constantly this way; it is not something that comes when they feel like it. They really are set apart to me because of their ability to be excellent; they are the best of the best because they give everything that they have all the time. I can’t truly put into words how they are excellent or what it means to be excellent, but they are.
6. Laughter- These people make me laugh harder than I can explain. The times that I have had to pull over on the side of the road because I literally couldn’t see the road; the times that I have tears running down my face because they truly make me laugh all day long. Everything we do together, we laugh at some point. Sometimes at each other, and often at ourselves. These people have taught me to never take myself too seriously, which is something that I can find myself doing. I can tell you from the depths of my soul that laughter truly is the best medicine that you can have; my day can totally turn around when someone is laughing with me, authentically.
7. Nations- These are the people that truly have a desire to fulfill Acts 1:8; they want not only Jerusalem, but the uttermost. And their ideas are ones that dream huge and cast vision like most people would never cast. I love that they can see beyond the simple things in life, and relalize that there is so much more to life than simply the world and our personal reliaities. They see that people need to know Jesus and meet their needs in order to share Christ with them. They want to see the whole world know that Jesus is Lord.
8. Love- These are the people that desire so much to love other people, and to love God. They understand that the two things definitely run hand in hand. If it starts with loveing God; it ends with loving people. I’m blown away by the fact that these people love me so much; I know that I am not the only person who feels this way. They learn from the creator of love how to love; they love each person not only for their individuality but also their commonness. I am often blown away how much these people love me and others.
9. Desire to make their mark- One of the things that runs so common between them is their desire to make their mark in the world. It isn’t enough to them just to live; they want to live to make it matter in lights of everything that we know to be true. They want people to know they matter and that ordinary people can actually do extraordinary things to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn’t enough to them to simply do what is required of them; they do so much more than that.
10. Individuality- When I think of each of these people, as much as I often consider and note their similarities, I realize that they are each so different than the other one. They each have different personalities, different spiritual gifts, different love languages; they are so different in certain ways that it blows my mind. If its Brian’s quiet leadership or Chelsea’s determined attitude all the time, I realize that each person is different than the one I saw before. They each come with their own strengths and weaknesses, desires and dreams. They are so different that sometimes I fail to see their commonness, but I find it cool that God would bring a group of people together who are so different, but birth the same desires for revival inside of their souls.
11. Accountability- I don’t know if I can even describe how these people make me want to be better. They tell me when I screw up, and if you spend five minutes with me, you realize that I do a lot. They not only accept my weakness, but they refuse to justify my sin. They fufill something that I can distintly remember my pastor saying: “Don’t use your tendancy to sin as and excuse to sin.” They never let me sin because I do it all the time; they tell me all the time that I need to be better. They give me grace when necessary, but they are the people that inspire me to be better.
12. Leadership- These are the people that are leaders. Leadership runs through their veins. They are leaders in every situation. They lead when things go well. They lead when things go wrong. They are leaders. Its in their blood. I love watching them lead; they are just people that seem to be born to do it, even though they will often tell you that they aren’t leaders born. It’s a quality that I truly believe that will cause them to make a mark on their generation; they will be different because they refuse to stand for something other than what has been told to them their whole entire lives.
13. Willingness to be unnoticed- These people that I do life with are people that you will never actually know their name of these people on this side of eternity. They make ministry happen; they are the feet of the gospel lived out, but you won’t probably ever realize if you would meet them out to dinner or shopping. They are the ordinary people who make will literally change history but you might never know their names.
14. Authenticity- This group of people are constant. Living for Jesus just isn’t something that they do when people are watching. They don’t just do this when it looks good for them to love Jesus. They often love Jesus when it isn’t convinent or doesn’t make for the best of circumstances. I’ve spent time with some of them on an alter with tears; having conversations that so much in our lives was going wrong, but they still give glory to Jesus. These people are the same when they’re alone when you see them or when we’re in a group of people who we are constantly with. I value the authenticity of our team. I love knowing that each person is the same whenever and wherever you see them.

The qualities that I value in this group of people cannot be described in a blog. The way a best friend treats someone else is not something that you can put into words; to know these people and relationships like this you have to spend time with them. I am honored to call them my friends, the amazing people that I’ve been given the chance to spend this journey I call my life. It has taken me over a month to put into words what their qualities are; they are simply that amazing that they often take my breath away. This is my prayer for you: that you would meet people in this life who are just like them. I want you to have the people that truly make you a better person because they are in your life.

All My Love,
Kristyn

I Might Have Scars But I’m Not Alone.

2010-05-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

I’m the one seemingly everybody knows. The one who often finds herself in charge, and I thrive there. I love to lead; to be honest it was something that I was made before time began to do. It’s something that was birthed inside of me over the last three years; its something that I just “know” how to do. Leadership has a natural flow over my life, and sometimes this is my greatest blessing, and sometimes my greatest curse.
But it’s easy to put on a “leadership” face and go through life like nothing has ever hurt me. For people to look at me when I have the chance to lead and think I’ve led the easy, perfect life. To walk into a room and manage the chaos. The truth is though I’m fragile and I’ve been hurt. I have a lot of scars, but my scars begin my story. I’ve got chaos of my own that I cannot control.
I’ve got parts of my life that still hurt, parts of me that you’ll never know if you only see me as a person who can lead. There are parts of me that most of the world will never know, but a few people in my life have experienced them; the good and the bad of them. A friend told me a quote this weekend: 70% of pastors don’t have a close friend. [You should read this article at Without Wax.] I have to agree. Many of the people that I know in ministry don’t have a close friend, especially one that doesn’t work in their direct area of ministry, and sometimes, that gets to be a sticky situation. One point that Pete makes in monumental for me: “If a normal person has close friends we call it healthy. If a pastor has close friends we call it a ‘clique.’ “ I’ve been on the receiving end (and honestly the giving end also) of this assumption. People in ministry often don’t have close friends because people criticize that fact when they do have a close group of friends. But I become a better leader because of my friends. I am more healthy because of the criticism, companionship, and cheerleading they provide.
Friends are vital to the health of any person, including someone in ministry. I have one person that I truly would consider my best friend; I realize that this is a special gift. She’s the one I can tell when ministry isn’t fun. She’s the one who tells me if my thinking (especially expectations) is out of line. She tells me when I’m wrong; she tells me when she thinks I’m right. She’s been there through a heck of a lot. She knows my story, even the parts that aren’t fun to talk about. She sees beyond my leadership style and sees when I need to change it, sometimes before I see it for myself. She’s my opposite, literally. Our personalities are exactly the opposite; she’s really people oriented and I am extremely task driven (I promise you; spend 10 minutes with me and you’ll figure that one out.) I praise God for Elizabeth and all she’s meant to my life. She truly is a gift from God for me.
I have been given an amazing group of solid friends who have been there through thick and thin; they tell me when they think I can do better, cheer me on, and make me the leader that I am today. In our group of friends you might hear this: “Kristyn, don’t you think this way might be a better way to do it rather than the way you’re doing it?” Or this: “Is there something I can do to help you?” [and for the record, Chels usually adds ma’am to this. ;)] A willing attitude to help someone else makes the biggest difference in how a leader can function and become the best.
But, from one person in ministry to another, do you have someone who loves you enough to tell you when you’re wrong? I don’t think some of my first few months in ministry would have had me believe it, but I was given an amazing gift in the crazy people I have the chance to call my friends, and God wants to give you good gifts too; He promises us that in His Word.

Just something to think about!
Kristyn
P.S. It was Elizabeth’s B-day this week. If you reading this will you leave a comment for her? She’s amazing. ;)

Walk Like You Have Somewhere To Go

2010-04-07T11:38:00.000-05:00

As much as it seems that all I'm doing is book reviews, all I really get done at work is reading, so I've been blazing through books as of late.

The last book I read is a book called Walk Like You Have Somewhere To Go by Lucille O'Neal. The author is Shaquille O'Neil's Mom. She talks of what happened to her and her family, and how she became who she is today. A journey through teenage pregnancy, marriage, children, divorce, and other life shaping events makes up the entire book. The journey also outlines what its like to see a child face major success, and how the family copes, and secretly suffers for the cause. Written from her perspective, O'Neal gives a perspective that most people cannot understand.

As much I love to read, especially biographies, I struggled to finish this book, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. O'Neal seems to write the same thing over and over again. For someone who has faced tradgey myself, as well as beginning to understand what its like to be known for something you do rather than yourself, I found this book redundant and over the top. At one point, O'Neal even says something to the effect that she wanted to write a book before people didn't listen and know who her family was. That mentality affected the effectiveness of the writing, as well as the style being a bit whiny.

To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to post a positive review.

The Noticer

2010-02-27T19:46:00.000-06:00

I recently was given the opportunity to read and review a book titled The Noticer by Andy Andrews.

In The Noticer, you will meet a friendly, although allusive, character named Jones. Not Mr. Jones, he is simply Jones, and the truths he teaches are as simple as his name. Each person Jones encounters is given a few nuggets of wisdom, from which all of us can benefit. Each truth, on the surface, seems simple; while that is true, the depth of the wisdom can benefit one immensely.

I found that the simple truths of The Noticer have helped me identify arenas of my life that need some simple, but deep truths, like Jones expresses with such clarity. I consistently found myself wanting to read of the next person Jones was going to encounter. This is one book I found myself reading well beyond what I set out to read when I picked the book up. I much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone, but especially someone who is searching for answers to the hard questions that life seems to throw at us.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What Everyone Should Know About Money

2010-01-03T18:32:00.000-06:00

What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter The Real World.
By Joseph Sangl

My Review:
As I began to read this book the timing was perfect. 2010 has just begun; I told myself that this was the year I was going to get my finances in order. My finances are not in terrible order; I just knew that I wasn't keeping track of my expenses and income like I should have been. I had so little to show for where my money has went in the last year. I want to get my finances in order to the point that I know how I am going to see my dreams fulfilled. I want to work so I can accomplish my dreams, rather than just showing up for work every day because it is what I am "supposed" to do.

Mr. Sangl's book was aimed at me and people like me; for where I am at it was exactly what I needed to hear. I learned a lot from the book, and I am glad to have spent a few hours of my time with the book. The book is only about 90 pages, with text of decent size and quite a few spaces and such: nothing over the top but not textbook like at all either. I am a fairly quick reader overall and this book was a relatively quick read for me, which doesn't always happen with boks that aren't fiction or memoirs. I enjoyed the book overall.

I liked the way the book was written, and also enjoyed the fact that Sange addressed issues such as compound interest and purchasing a home. One main issue in my generation is that we haven't been taught basic finance skills (I myself somewhat included in that) and I think that Sange does a good job addressing basic finance issues as well as more complicated issues. Also, I particuluarly enjoyed that Sange addressed the issues of financial woes that might have already occured in the readers life (such as student loan debt.)

My dislikes of the book were more in functionality rather than the content of the book. The book won't stay open without breaking the spine (and I'm not even positive that even that would work becaouse I didn't do it). Otherwise, I have no issues or dislikes about this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and like Sange says, seeking knowledge is good, but without application, especially in this situation, knowledge becomes simply something we just know. But apply the concepts in the book and the ideas could become foundational to a positive financial future. Definately take the few hours this book will take you to read and enjoy that benefits of it for the rest of your life.

What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter The Real World
Joseph Sangel
978-1616237974

*Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for this post. All of the opinions offered are my own personal views and are in no way scripted from the author or publishing team.*

Some of my favorite bloggers...

2009-10-30T21:03:00.001-05:00

I've gotten out of the habit of reading blogs for the last few months, but I've gotten back into it, so I thought I would let yMcou in on what have been reading lately!

Trina- one of my real life friends. We both work at the Basement together. I love her lots, and her blog is fabulous too!

Leah- She is one of those people that I would kill to be able to spend some time with. Her blog is real; it will make you laugh and make you cry, sometimes in the same post. Her blog is often a view of the life of a family in the AirForce and the laughs and frustrations that come with that.

Kelly Bean- Kel is one of my very best friends! She doesn't always update her blog a whole lot, but when she does its fire. Check her out too!

MckMama- I've followed this blog for a while. I've prayed for this family a lot. But the journey is one that the family wants to give God the glory at the end of the day, and that to me is what makes the blog. No matter the highs and the lows, all credit is given where it is due. I've cried for Stellan just like I would cry for my own child. Will you join us in praying for Stellan?

Audrey Caroline- This is the wife of one of the guys from the band Selah. I would start with this blog from the beginning and read the whole story. When I read it for the first time, I literally cried for days. I watched a family journey through something so dark, and give the glory to God himself in all of it. God is faithful, and this blog is a picture of that. This is another family that I would love to spend a few days with. If my faith was as much as theirs. I pray for the next journey that God is taking Todd and Angie and the girls on, all four of them. And I love the song that comes up on this blog.

Take the time to spend with these blogs and journey with these people like I've been given the chance to do. God is so good!

Fragment Friday!

2009-10-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

You know how you have these little things you think about blogging about during the week but don’t want to do an entire post about it? Or, you're like me and just think about five things at a time? Welcome to my version of Fragment Friday!

I heard about this from my friend Trina who did it last week, and I worked for me today! Thanks Trina! Love here blog, btw.

1. I saw a contest on Twitter for Two Peas In A Bucket, who I didn’t already follow on this amazing social media. And a twist of luck had a contest going on to be the 2300 follower. And I won! I am so excited to see the box from there soon! And this also reminds me of one of my new favorite blog, Life As Lou. Leah is awesome, and I think you will enjoy her blog.

2. Halloween is tomorrow, and I think I’m going to stop by a party tomorrow night. It's never really been a big deal for me, and there is no reason that it is much different than any other day. I am enjoying the free candy though that the family that I am babysitting for tonight has. I don’t like a lot of candy, but a piece here and there seems necessary to me! So, I'm okay with it too!

3. God’s provision in my life has definitely been evident. I got a new day job, working at a car wash not far from home. It’s definitely always an interesting story, but I am really enjoying it. Also, I have had the chance to babysit quite a bit too, and enjoy that. My finances are a bit more cushioned then they were a few weeks ago, and I am definitely enjoying that. God is so good! I am excited to see what God is going to do with me in this new season of my life.

Another Quiz!

2009-10-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Will you talk to the person you like on the phone tonight?
I like a lot of people. :-)

Ever had a near death experience?
Yes. Let's not talk about it.

Where’s your cell phone?
on the charger on the wall next to me.

What is the last thing you thought about?
How much I have to do tomorrow.

Do you regret anything?
No. I don't believe in regret, just living and learning.

What are you going to do this weekend?
Work, Brit and Vince's Wedding, Church

When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends?
A few hours ago.

Do you prefer revenge or just pure jealousy/envy?
neither one.

Who would you like your next “fling” to be with?
I'm not a fan of flings.

Would you curse in front of your parents?
Probably Not.

What kind of camera do you have?
Mine broke, so right now I just use my phone.

Would you rather go to a party or out of town?
out of town

Are you slowly drifting away from someone close?
Not Really

Who can you tell everything to?
Chels, Sam

Can you play guitar hero?
Not Really

is any part of your body sore?
My Brain. LOL

missing someone right now?
Yes.

is there someone on your mind that shouldn’t be?
Why shouldn't someone be on my mind?

Do you like your phone?
Ya

Last alcohol beverage?
i dont drink

Have you ever slept in a bed with the opposite sex?
Nope

Have any of your best friends ever back stabbed you?
Not really

If you had to move in with a friend, which one would you pick?
Chelsea.

What’s the seventh text message in your inbox say?
Something from Twitter Probably

When is your next road trip?
idk

What did you do last weekend?
Worked. :-/

Met anyone new in the past week?
Yes

What do your bestfriends call you?
Kris, Kristy, Ramsey

Who was the last person to go to the movies with you?
I don't really go all that much!

Are you currently fighting with someone?
nope

Last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
;-)

Who/What would you like to see right now?
;-) and my Basement fam!

Are you mad at someone right now?
nope

Do you mainly use your house phone or your cell phone?
cell. Don't have a house phone

Is there an empty place in your heart?
My heart doesn't have an empty place. It just grows.

Do you count down the days till anything?
Sometimes.. depends on my mood.

Are you looking forward to something as of right now?
Tomorrow. Sort of Bittersweet.

Have you ever been called a tease?
Nope

What are your chances of getting with your crush?
idk

What is the farthest you’ve traveled with a friend?
Uganda

Are any of your friends so close that you consider them family?
Some are closer than family, really.

Anyone told you a secret this week?
Yes

Do you ever turn your cell phone off?
Sometimes.

What do you want in your life right now?
I'm good where I am. Right in the center of God's will.

When was the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to cry?
At church Sunday!

Did you tell someone something today?
Yes.

Do you trust people easily?
Sort of.

What were you doing at 9pm Friday night?
Hanging out with my fam!

I am waiting on an airplane...

2009-10-08T17:28:00.000-05:00

What did you have for breakfast?
I had a waffle that I made ☺

What type of soap do you use in the shower?
I mostly use the peach soap my sister got me from Italy.

Did you wear perfume today? What kind?
Yes.. Butterfly flower from BBW

Who was the last person that IMd you?
I’m currently chatting with Steph on Skype. That’s the closest I get to IM.

What did you talk about?
We are currently just chatting

What channel is your tv on right now?
I don’t have or watch tv.

What was the last movie you watched?
I have P.S. I Love You in my computer at the moment.

What did you have for lunch?
My boss’ Beef Stew. It was so good!
What are you currently wearing?
a dress and flip flops. Traveling.. lol.

What's your computer wallpaper?
The Logo from the Stand. Time to change it!

How is your hair styled right now?
Down and straight

What's the most expensive item you bought for yourself with your own money?
MacBook

What's the weather like outside?
IDK, I’m stuck in the airport :-/

How about shampoo? Brand?
I use Matrix Smooth and Shine.

What was the last thing you bought?
A coffee yesterday

What movie are you most excited to see?
I’m not a huge new movie buff.
What book are you reading right now?
I’ve got a few. Redeeming Love and Same Kind of Different as Me.

Do you believe in ghosts?
- No. I do believe in demons though.

What do you notice first about the opposite sex?
Personality. Arms. Smile.

What song are you listening to right now?
A Brook Hills Podcast.

Grab the first book you see, what's the first sentence on page 147?
Then, for a couple hours, Denver practiced parallel parking between the phone booth and the concession stand before the Lakeworth marching band took over the parking lot and ran us off.

What sheets do you have on your bed?
Dark Pink

How many pillows?
4-5

Pick one favorite tv show?
Again. Not a huge TV fan.

Who's your favorite character from that show? Why?
Not Applicable.

Do you own an iPod? If so what's your most played song?
Yes. But its dead right now.

What's your keychain like?
Its full. LOL

If you stretch out your left arm what does it touch?
My Backpack. LOL

What time did you get up this morning?
7:45a

Any plans for the weekend?
I’m headed home right now, so hanging with the family and my MD peeps

Play any instruments?
Piano a bit. Guitar a bit. Flute.
Ever been to Asia?
Not Yet.

Dressing up for Halloween?
I haven’t decided.

Farmville?
No.

Bored?
Kind of. But just ready for the flight to board.

Life is good. Sorry I haven't written. But I'm gunna try to work on a blog this weekend while I'm in Maryland. Deal?
Kristyn

A Fighter.

2009-08-29T22:05:00.000-05:00

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. –James 4:14

This verse is one that I have heard often, and often think about. Today, this verse took on a new life for me. Something changed for me when I received news that I would never thought of. When the voicemail checked at work today said, “Kristyn, call me. I have some news for you” came in a relatively calm voice with no hurry, I began to process the ideas that flooded my mind. I thought of the worst things. I knew something had happened to someone that I loved, simply because of the tone in her voice.

Then the phone rang and my mom was on the other line. I found out one of my best friends from elementary and middle school had a stroke. A girl who I still love, despite our distance, we always kept relatively close even when we didn’t go to school together. She was a girl who always told me to keep up the fight, to keep going. She refused to quit, no matter what she faced. I couldn’t imagine that someone my age could have something happen to them like that. At this age, there was no way I could have a stroke. It couldn’t happen, but the reality is that it could, that death is waiting on the other side of the door.

Brit’s situation caused me to think. It might not be death that brings something unexpected tomorrow. It might be a diagnosis, an accident, or something of the like. We have the chance TODAY to make a difference. What are you going to do today that will make an impact in the world tomorrow? I want to be able to get to the end of my life and say that I made an impact, that I changed people in the process that we call life. I want to know that the moments that make up my days are moments that mattered.

Britani is doing better, and expected to recover, praise God. But it reminded me to think, what if not? Had I told her how much of an inspiration she is to me? Had I let her know that it doesn’t matter the miles or the time, I still count her as one of the best friends I ever had? Is there someone in your life that you need to go to this week and tell them how much you truly love them? God put people in our path to do this thing called life together, to walk through the tough times and lean on each other. Britani has been there when the world walked out, truly. She’s always been there, but I didn’t tell her recently that.

Your vapor, your life, what will you do with it? Will you make an impact or will you just go through the motions and try to get through it? When you go to eternity, what will you do? What will you have to show for the years you were given on earth? And what will the people around you know when we get to the end? Will you let them know how much they truly mean?

Just for Tonya..

2009-08-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

3's Share
You've been tagged! You are supposed to write a note with the 3's of YOU . At the end, choose people to be tagged. You have to tag me. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way... promise!

To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, copy & paste this entire message in the body of a new note, then erase and type your 3's (in place of my answers), tag some people (in the right hand corner of the app), then click publish.

BTW- Tonya I miss you!

Three names I go by:
1. Kristyn
2. Kris
3. KRam

Three Jobs I have had in my life.
1. Youth Intern
2. Camp Counselor
3. Pier One :-)

Three Places I have lived
1. Fallston, MD
2. Birmingham, AL
3. Trussville, AL

Three Favorite drinks
1. Sweet Tea
2. Diet Coke/Diet Mtn. Dew
3. Coffee- Preferably an iced coffee from Starbucks!

Three TV shows that I watch (currently)
1. I
2. don't
3. watch TV

Three Places I Have Been
1. Uganda
2. Switzerland
3. Dominican Republic

People that e-mail/facebook me regularly
1. Mom
2. The Basement Team
3. Chels

Three of my favorite restaurants
1. Jim n Nicks
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Logans

Three friends I think will respond
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?

Three things I'm looking forward to
1. Haircut tomorrow
2. Sleep
3. Wedding Tonight

Just killing some time.. loving life and loving Jesus!

Africa

2009-08-04T09:37:00.000-05:00

To be loved. To be embraced. It’s a fundamental part of being human.

We live in a society that we walk by people every single day and couldn’t tell you one part of their story. Our churches are nothing more than a social network that most of us don’t seem to qualify for. You can walk into the door of a church and be promised that no one even knows your name most of the time. And to be perfectly honest, most of the time, they don’t really care either. You can walk into the door and hear a message, often about things that won’t matter in light of eternity, and a time of worship that doesn’t make sense to someone who doesn’t know who or what they are worshiping. And we walk out of church with the idea in our minds that somehow we have bettered ourselves and our standing in eternity. It scared me to think that they are people that have spent fifty-two weeks a year for eighty or ninety years and are rotting themselves right into hell. Our churches are full of people with perfect attendance that will send them right to hell. And to be honest, that downright petrifies me as a believer, as a leader, and as a church attendee.

We have justified our lack of personal holiness and made corporate attendance justifiable for salvation for many. The heart of God, as I’ve found over the last few years, is personal. He desires for people to know him, more than just on a Sunday and Wednesday idea. Spending time with him is like spending time with your best friend, you know him WELL when you spend time with him and him alone. Time together with other believers is good, but there is something to be said about individual time with him. One-on-one conversations are so much deeper. Time spent just with God is worthwhile to God, and to us.

God is a personal God, who desires to know each of us on a deeper level than we often allow him to. We give to God the same time that we do the gas station attendant or the girl who takes your order at the fast food line. We go to him when we need help, and sometimes when we aren’t totally empty but it’s just a habit that we do. That idea reminds me of a man in corporate America who stops for coffee at the gas station every day. We do everything because of the habit that we did.

Instead of knowing God and listening to him, we have satisfied ourselves with the same thing every single day, instead of a god who wants us to listen to him, like at a time when he says I want you to worship me today instead of doing what people think you are supposed to do. A God who says that here are moments that we need to give up rest for him, and there are times that we need to rest for him. To give your life away in service to the people around you, that they can see God in everything you do. It’s an honor to have the chance to know God. Its an honor that I don’t always take advantage of, and I am scare to think that I am the norm, rather than the exception in the world today.

Have I not taken the time because I let the world around me take over everything that I need to do? Do I need to let go of the things of this world and think of the things that matter most in light of living my life for eternity. It matters; the world will end. We will have to answer for the life we lived and things that consumed us in this life. I will have to speak to every moment when I talk to God; a moment that I desire more than anything in the world is a moment that I will have to live in such a way that it matters.

Hell from the church pew? I think so.

2009-07-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

To be loved. To be embraced. It’s a fundamental part of being human.

We live in a society that we walk by people every single day and couldn’t tell you one part of their story. Our churches are nothing more than a social network that most of us don’t seem to qualify for. You can walk into the door of a church and be promised that no one even knows your name most of the time. And to be perfectly honest, they don’t really care to know you either. You can walk into the door and hear a message, often about things that won’t matter in light of eternity, and a time of worship that doesn’t make sense to someone who doesn’t know who or what they are worshiping. And we walk out of church with the idea in our minds that somehow we have bettered ourselves and our standing in eternity and the community around us. It scares me to think that they are people that have spent fifty-two weeks a year for eighty or ninety years and are rotting themselves right into hell. Our churches are full of people with perfect attendance that will send them right to hell. And to be honest, that downright petrifies me as a believer, as a leader, and as a church attendee.

We have justified our lack of personal holiness and made corporate attendance justifiable for salvation for many. The heart of God, as I’ve found over the last few years, is personal. He desires for people to know him, more than just on a Sunday and Wednesday idea. Spending time with him is like spending time with your best friend, you know him WELL when you spend time with him and him alone. Time together with him other believers is good, but there is something to be said about individual time with him. One-on-one conversations are so much deeper. Time spent just with God is worthwhile to God, and is and should be to us.

God is a personal God, who desires to know each of us on a deeper level than we often allow him to. We give to God the same time that we do the gas station attendant or the girl who takes your order at the fast food line. We go to him when we need help, and sometimes when we aren’t totally empty but it’s just a habit that we do. That idea reminds me of a man in corporate America who stops for coffee at the gas station every day. We do everything because of the habit that we have. We treat God exactly the same way.

Instead of knowing God and listening to him, we have satisfied ourselves with the same thing every single day, instead of a God who wants us to listen to him, like at a time when he says I want you to worship me today instead of doing what people think you are supposed to do. A God who says that here are moments that we need to give up rest for him, and there are times that we need to rest for him. To give your life away in service to the people around you, that they can see God in everything you do. It’s an honor to have the chance to know God. Its an honor that I don’t always take advantage of, and I am scare to think that I am the norm, rather than the exception in the world today.

Have I not taken the time because I let the world around me take over everything that I need to do? Do I need to let go of the things of this world and think of the things that matter most in light of living my life for eternity. It matters; the world will end. We will have to answer for the life we lived and things that consumed us in this life. I will have to speak to every moment when I talk to God; a moment that I desire more than anything in the world is a moment that I will have to live in such a way that it matters. You will answer to God about the life you lived here on earth; what will you be able to say?

My Dad...

2009-07-03T17:35:00.001-05:00

Scripture portrays God as a Father so often in scripture. That makes a struggle for some, but for my own life, God as Father is one of the most positive ways to describe God. The memories and stories that I associate with my dad are some of the best memories that I have.
I am a Daddy's girl and have been from the time I was a little girl. My dad is my hero. He has been one of my best friends since I was a child. I have a lot of amazing memories of times with my dad, and I realized when I got older that my sisters didn’t get the memories that I have. My relationship with my dad is one that I treasure, something that I wouldn’t give up for almost anything in the world. My dad wasn’t and isn’t perfect, but he loved me the best that he knew how. He would give me anything he had, drops anything when I needed him, but he let me learn the lessons that I needed to learn. My dad was a rendition of one of the best Father’s a girl could have ever asked for.
I’ve learned that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have it all together in life and that is okay. My dad showed me that I am always going to be a work in progress, that never in life will I arrive at something that I will consider success; success is an everyday battle that one will fight. Success is constantly giving your all to ever situation. Success does not come in a package or a moment, but rather the every time you give yourself to what God has given you with. My parents were not supposed to have any kids. They married each other without any intention of having children; God had a different plan. My dad faces every day with a smile, knowing that he has been given a gift when he was the father to a bunch of girls. If I could live my life knowing that everything around me was a gift, my world would be so different.
I see god in my daddy, and I am blessed by my relationship with him. Without my dad and the memories that he gave me, and the constant love that he gives to me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am blessed. I am honored to call my life my own.

The Myth of More

2009-06-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt, we live in a world that is the myth of more is better. We were talking this weekend that I have this idea that I have the mentality of "Africa". Its like this: I could go to Starbucks and spend $5 on coffee. Or, I could put that $5 away, and go to Africa soon. I have a deep desire to go to Africa, but the money issue is big for me. I can save for it and go. I don't have a lot of time to talk about this, but I am going to write a blog soon about it.

Until then, listen to Pete Wilson's idea on it.

The Myth of More
On the Cross Point Church Podcast...
I'll link it in a few.

Love
Kristyn

Alone

2009-06-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

As you might be able to tell, and if you know me in real life, you realize that I am not in a relationship with someone that I am willing to spend the rest of my life with. I haven't found someone that I thought I could do that with, but there is something about being committed to the body of Christ. I was working on a blog, but I think that Blake says it better than I did in a message he spoke a few months ago.

Blake on Commitmen t

This message changed my view of Church, and Blake is probably one of the most gifted speakers I have ever heard. Sit back and enjoy!

Peace, Love, and Jesus!
Kristyn

Living a life that matters. 7 June 2009

2009-06-07T01:05:00.000-05:00

So my plan when I made the blog was to do it in such a way that I started in a book and just worked through it, but today I was stuck by this idea, and the passage I got from a friend (thanks Liz!) and I really think its something that needs to be hit on today. The Lord has wrecked my world today, as I spent time just relaxing and talking to him about how my life is so be lived. So here goes nothing.

Mark 10:17-22 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

What am I doing in the world that I am following Jesus’ command to give away everything I have to the poor? Do I even care about the people around me anymore or I am I totally wrapped up in my daily affairs that I can’t take the time to worry about the people around me? I’ve been struggling with this lately, but this has been the thing that the Lord has been wrecking me with lately.

We pass by so many people in this life. Every single day, I walk by people who don’t know Jesus. They are my clerk at the gas station, the waiter at the restaurant, and the guy in front of me on the interstate. I interact with people every single day that don’t know Jesus. What are we supposed to do with that knowledge? I think deep down we all “know” it but we don’t do anything about it. It reminds me of a lady that I have had the chance to get to know. She works at the local Waffle House, mostly on night shift. I know her because we get the chance to go visit her after the Basement on Tuesdays, mostly. She knows who I am; she will call me by name every single time I come in, give me a hug, know what I want to drink, and treat me so well. I didn’t do anything outrageous to make her like that; she just loves people like that. She has the qualities that I think Jesus was asking the rich young ruler to have, and is asking us to have. She loves people, plain and simple. She has more of Jesus in her than most people I know that will attend church tomorrow. She gets it. And what’s the saddest part of that? I don’t think she goes to church and knows Jesus. She gets more of what Jesus is asking us to be, and she doesn’t go to church. Am I going to be the church to her and go and visit her while she’s at work one night? What about asking her to lunch, to let her know she’s important enough to me that I would make time to see her?

That’s what I think I would see Jesus doing if he lived today. I think he would go to the people that we see as not significant and make sure that they know they are loved and accepted. It reminds me often to be with people that will be of no benefit to me, simply because I want them to see Jesus. I challenge you, like I am challenging myself this week, to do something out of the blue for some one who might not be “seen” by most people. It is so simple. So ridiculously basic that it almost makes me sick to my stomach to think that I can live my life and not make people feel like they matter.

People matter to God. People should matter to me. Everything material is going to fade. Every single part. But people matter to God. They are the only things that we are able to take with us. But we work so hard even to make the best ministry, or the best job, or the best family and we forget the people that God puts in our path. I don’t know the people that God is going to put in my path tomorrow. By like Liz reminded me tonight, I might be the first person someone meets who knows Jesus, or I might be given the greatest honor of leading them in a prayer to commit their lives to Jesus, or I might be a step along the way, but whatever part I play, I will have the chance to every single day be a step on the journey to introduce people to Jesus. Will you lead someone to the next step in his or her journey to know Jesus today?

I see this being something that I am constantly reminded of. The leading cause of atheism in the world is Christians. I think if we would start acting like the church we wouldn’t have so many atheists. And it starts with me today. It starts with me actually caring about what people perceive me to be. It starts with me getting over myself and my “personality” and beginning to care about people enough to love them like Jesus would, and introduce them to my best friend Jesus.

Peace, Love, and Jesus,
Kristyn

P.S. Sorry if this post seems all over the place, but my head it going ninety miles an hour right now, and this post is some of my thinking. Some of these posts will probably be a little random, but that's just how I think most of the time.

So here goes something I never thought I would do.

2009-06-03T23:34:00.000-05:00

I told Jesus I would do this.

Then I talked myself out of it. I convinced myself that I was positively crazy.

I told Savannah that I needed to. She asked me to share part of me with you, the blog reader.

And I was scared. Perfectly honest, I'm totally scared right now. Putting myself out there is the toughest thing for me. Being real is tough for me.

I'm the girl who pretty much has it all together. I don't put myself out there much. To get on here and tell you what I think. To be honest about how hard life is, how hard ministry is, and how much I really don't understand is going to be a tough battle for me. But I'm learning that in Christ, God is all sufficient. That I don't have to have it all together.

Working for a ministry may seem easy, and somehow, people think that we are perfect. They think our lives are perfect. The reality is the opposite. Let me paint ministry like this: put a target everywhere possible on you and walk through a field with a thousand expert marksman. The enemy is shooting. There are days you are hit on every side. And that is what it feels like to work in ministry most of the time.

Let me back up and tell you a bit about myself, if you don't know already. And I love lists, so I'm going to do it in a list style:

My name is Kristyn.
I'm from North Carolina, grew up in Maryland, and now live in Alabama.
I work with the Basement here in Birmingham. Check out thebasementonline.com and be looking for a post in the next week or so about the Basement!
I primarily work in production and hospitality for the Basement, so I love lights and sound, but especially lights. Few things in the world excite me like seeing a new light set go up.
I have a single mission in life: souls. That is to introduce people to the presence of Christ and let them know how radically life changing it is.
I have a single purpose in life: to bring Jesus back. I believe without a doubt that Jesus is on his way back to take his church home, and my job is to take the gospel to the world to enable that to happen. (Matthew 24:14)
I have amazing friends, most of whom are from Whosoever Ministries/The Basement. They are family to me, and my world is often moving with and around them. You'll be hearing about them soon!
I have 5 sister. Two of them (the oldest) are not biological and you probably won't hear much about them, and the other three are biological, but you might not hear about them either, just because they live really far away now.
One of my beautiful sisters gave me a beautiful gift last September in my niece, Lillian Grace. We mostly call her Loulou, but you'll probably hear about her soon.
I am who I am by grace. One of my favorite sayings is this: We aren't perfect; we are simply forgiven. I think this blog will be something that shows you that. I don't have it all together. I have good days and bad days, just like everyone. But I am who I am because of grace.
I don't have life figured out. If anything, I am learning that I know less and less as time goes on. But I'm learning. And I just want Jesus to come back. I want to be found ready when my king comes back.

It's late so I'm going to get this summed up. But I am in a way looking forward to this. This is faith for me right now, but I know if I take a step, he takes a mile. I'm counting on Him.

Praying for you.
Peace, Love, and Jesus, (That's all that matters really)
Kristyn